Texas Town’s Fight Against Bitcoin Miner Noise Falters as Cityhood Bid Fails

In the rural community of Texas, an ongoing battle between a Bitcoin mining company and residents broke out after residents tried to form a new city to stop the miner's operations.

For nearly three years, locals in the unincorporated area have been at odds with Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA), one of the largest Bitcoin mining companies in the United States. The firm operates a large-scale mining site housing around 60,000 Bitcoin rigs.

However, residents have complained that the noise from the operation has created a mass disturbance to their lives, with some complaining that the noise has brought sleepless nights, headaches, and hearing problems due to their constant mechanical roar.

In a bid to regain some authority over the operation, residents proposed incorporating their community as a new city called Mitchell Bend. The move would have given them municipal powers to regulate industrial noise and enforce zoning restrictions.

Despite the grandeur of the plan, it lost steam as it only gathered 38% of the 138 voters to support the proposa—well below the threshold needed to pass. The result leaves the two-square-mile community of about 600 residents without the power to impose any new rules on MARA’s facility.

“It’s disappointing,” said local resident Danny Lakey, who has been among those leading the push against the miner. “Although we took a loss here, we are going to move forward and continue to do what we can to not let industry take over Hood County.”

MARA Pushes Back, Residents Refuse to Back Down

Before the vote, MARA filed a lawsuit to block the incorporation effort, arguing that creating a new city could harm its operations and lead to heavy taxes that would “potentially put it out of business.” While a court rejected the company’s request, the election’s failure ultimately worked in its favor.

A MARA spokesperson later said:

“We’re pleased that Hood County voters saw through the sham incorporation effort and rejected it at the ballot box.”

Still, locals say MARA’s limited noise-mitigation efforts—such as constructing a 24-foot sound wall and converting about two-thirds of its miners to liquid cooling systems—have done little to bring back peace. Several residents have already moved away, unable to bear the constant humming that echoes through their rural surroundings.

A Broader U.S. Debate on Bitcoin Mining

The dispute in Hood County reflects a larger national trend as Bitcoin mining facilities expand into rural America, often clashing with residents over noise, energy use, and environmental impact.

Earlier this year, the Vilonia Planning Commission in Arkansas unanimously rejected a proposed crypto mining site after widespread community opposition, showing how local activism is increasingly shaping the landscape of U.S. crypto mining.

As the Bitcoin network—now worth over $2 trillion—continues to grow, tensions between industrial miners and small-town residents are intensifying. For the people of Hood County, the failed bid to create Mitchell Bend may mark a temporary loss, but their grassroots resistance against the hum of Bitcoin’s machines is far from over.