Cryptocurrency miners should not be rewarded at all by Gov. Greg Abbott and the state of Texas for creating a crisis with our energy grid, a Chronicle letter writer argues.
Dreamstime/TNS
Crypto miners are shaking Texans down like they're the Mafia (Opinion)
Published: Thu, 01/11/24
Crypto miners are shaking Texans down like they're the Mafia (Opinion)
Cryptocurrency miners should not be rewarded at all by Gov. Greg Abbott and the state of Texas for creating a crisis with our energy grid, a Chronicle letter writer argues.
Dreamstime/TNS
Houston Chronicle
By Letters to the Editor
Regarding “Mega-cartoon: How crypto miners raised Texans' electric bill (Opinion),” (Dec. 30): Crypto miners are getting a sweetheart deal from the state of Texas. They can help drive the grid into crisis, and then get paid handsomely by the state to shut down and avert the crisis they helped create. In any other field this would resemble a Mafia shakedown: Give me money or I’ll shut you down. This just reinforces the notion that the Republican Party of Texas cares more for large business corporations than it does for the people of Texas.
More crypto mining should be halted immediately, and those that remain should not be as handsomely rewarded as Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick want them to be. They should not be rewarded at all for creating a crisis with the grid. Please do not tell me the grid is secure. That hogwash no longer sells.
Gonzalo Martinez, La Porte
“Well done!” to the Chronicle and cartoonist Nick Anderson for the mega-cartoon on crypto mining. A lengthy article on the topic, and the related electricity usage and its impact on the electricity prices we consumers pay, probably wouldn’t have been read by many. Anderson tells the sordid story very effectively with his 13 engaging panels and, not unexpectedly, in the middle of it we find the two sleaziest, most self-dealing Texas politicians of them all: Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz.
David Bradley, Spring
A possible way to remove absolutely unnecessary crypto mining in Texas is to simply ban it, starting in three (or maybe five) years. That is, unless its energy is entirely supplied by some form of renewable energy and backed up by some form of stored energy. If enacted, this solution would emulate the ban on the manufacture and sale of incandescent light bulbs. After a fair amount of screaming that it couldn’t be done, that ban is now in effect nationally.
Milton D. Rosenau Jr., Bellaire
Thank you, Houston Chronicle and Nick Anderson, for a full-page, easily digestible explanation of why crypto mining is not only bad for our budget with increased electric bills, but also bad for our health when the grid is compromised by crypto miners’ greed.
Why is this such a massive industry in Texas? According to 2022 data from the U.S. Federal Reserve, only 2% of U.S. adults made a payment using cryptocurrency.
Want to know who is using it? Read Andy Greenberg’s 2022 book, “Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency.” Yes, cryptocurrency is what fuels the dark web’s criminal activities. I hope the Houston Chronicle will continue to cover this issue and ask the tough questions: Just why are Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz so in favor of this industry? Exactly what are they getting in return?
Marene Gustin, Houston
Thank you for shining a light on the crypto mining scam going on under the collective noses of our elected officials. Now all we need to do is find someone with the time and resources to sue Abbott and end this legal fleecing of Texas taxpayers and energy consumers.
David Kelly, Spring
Crypto is a con. Its tokens are intrinsically worthless, but they want suckers to treat them as money. For the sake of your financial well-being, stay out of crypto.
Patricia Roberts, Bellaire