Cryptominers’ high energy consumption has negative spillovers on the environment, quality of life, and electricity grids where these firms locate across the country (OSTP 2022). Pollution from electricity generation falls disproportionately on low-income neighborhoods and communities of color (Thind et al. 2019). Cryptominers’ intensive and often volatile power consumption also can push up electricity prices for consumers and can increase risks for local electrical grids—straining equipment, causing service interruptions and safety hazards (Chelan County 2018). Yet because cryptomining is geographically mobile and the stability of the business model remains unclear, local utilities also face financial risks if they invest in upgrading capacity that may not be needed if mining activity ceases or moves away.
The environmental impacts of cryptomining exist even when miners use existing clean power. For example, in the case of communities with hydropower where cryptomining operations are often located, increased electricity consumption by cryptominers reduces the amount of clean power available for other uses, raising prices and increasing overall reliance on dirtier sources of electricity.
Alongside these known costs and risks, cryptomining does not generate the local and national economic benefits typically associated with businesses using similar amounts of electricity.
