First, bald spots appeared on the dogs - pink patches on their shiny fur coats.
Veterinarian Shenis Kobenhafer told him it was hereditary. But it wasn't long before one of the bald puppies began stealing blankets to hide under furniture and stay hidden for long periods.
Around the same time, in the summer of 2022, I heard the first sound: a deep mechanical howl that grew louder as I approached the facility. Kobenhafer didn't know it then, but Bitcoin miners had arrived in town. Less than a mile from her home in East Texas, a cryptocurrency mining facility was coming to life.
Since then, this humming has become a soundtrack to life for hundreds of residents in the small town of Granbury, which has a population of 12,600. It resonates in the farmland and forests, chasing away deer. It seeps into the walls, shaking bedrooms and dining tables. Cheryl Shaden, a neighbor of Kobenhafer, imagines this sound is like standing at the edge of Niagara Falls. Kobenhafer says it resembles a jet engine constantly centered nearby.
A video of the site from Shaden's home, recorded on April 23, shows green pastures against a backdrop of rising smoke and roaring.
"It wakes you up," says Kobenhafer. "I’ll be sleeping, and everything will be fine, then I’ll wake up because I feel it in my chest."
Large-scale cryptocurrency mining operations began to emerge across the United States a decade ago. But China's strict crackdown on miners in 2021, which forced many to relocate to the U.S., is what solidified the country's role as a global hub for Bitcoin minting. With at least 137 commercial facilities nationwide, mostly in Texas, the sector uses up to 2.3% of the national electricity grid, according to estimates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), a government agency that collects and publishes statistics on energy use. While Joe Biden has promised to tighten regulations on this industry, Donald Trump wants Bitcoin to be "mined, minted, and manufactured in the United States," paving the way for Bitcoin mines to thrive across rural areas of the U.S. in the coming years.
President Trump and his administration have made significant efforts to fulfill the promises they made during their election campaign, and we are witnessing rapid growth in this industry," said Fred Thiel, CEO of Mara, the largest mining company in the world and owner of a 300-megawatt mining site in Granbury, to Fox Business in March. He added, "We want to see the United States as the dominant country in Bitcoin mining in the world." Shortly before that interview, the company acquired a 354-megawatt wind farm in Texas to power a new mine and began tapping natural gas from oil fields to power new facilities.
