“Judge Reed O’Connor rejected MARA Holdings’ request in the federal Northern District of Texas for a temporary restraining order on an election for Mitchell Bend to incorporate as Texas’ newest city and regulate the company’s nearby Bitcoin mine… The Bitcoin mine, which MARA has owned for almost two years, has been a source of noise pollution that residents say has been the cause of a range of health issues including lack of sleep, vertigo, nausea and motion sickness.”
Hard to think of anything more useless than a bitcoin “mine”.
And even less than useless, it is actively destructive.
Many mines are destructive. But most at least dig up something physical. Bitcoin mining is just pointless busy work to prove you did the most pointless busy work in order to get awarded the bitcoin. There’s nothing of actual value whatsoever.
The amount of energy and pollution wasted on creating nothing is mind boggling.
The very limited regulation makes for great pump and dump schemes, bribery, political corruption, etc.
A wildly unstable currency not backed by any government and can easily be stolen in vast sums. What could go wrong?
Remember that Bitcoin is still using the inherently wasteful “proof of work” pattern to incentive the necessary hash computations.
And that it’s less of a currency than it is a speculative security. Kind of like in-game currency for a MMO that allows real-money exchange, but without the game and somehow with even less stability or efficiency.
Ponzi scheme more than speculative asset or currency.
See half-life 2