Canadian border town suspends Bitcoin mining over aesthetic concerns

Massena, a town in New York along the border with Canada, has placed a temporary suspension on new Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations in the area.

According to a report by the Associated Press on Friday, Massena town officials mandated the 90-day moratorium on new Bitcoin mining activities due to aesthetic concerns.

Steve O’Shaughnessy, a Massena town supervisor, said miners littered roads with trailers laden with computers and other hardware required to mine Bitcoin. The AP report quoted O’Shaughnessy’s statement to WWNY-TV, saying:

“We don’t want it littered with these trailers that are pumping out Bitcoin. We just want to make sure if they are going to come here, that it’s a nice presentable building.”

Town officials will reportedly use the 90-day moratorium to ensure that roadsides in Massena are decluttered with trailers and shipping containers are moved off-road.

Meanwhile, Massena Electric is reportedly looking to sign deals with three crypto firms. According to the AP report, the power company also has its own moratorium on working with new crypto miners.

Related: Four North American Bitcoin miners that could benefit from the East-West shift

With small border towns in North America hemorrhaging factory jobs over the past decade, Bitcoin and crypto mining operations represent a return of some industrial activities to places like Massena.

Cheap electricity in these areas is often a major draw for Bitcoin miners, and in return, these companies offer the promise of jobs and bootstrapping the local economy.

Indeed, with China’s massive crypto-mining crackdown and the expected East-to-West hash rate migration, these smaller towns in North America might play host to more Bitcoin mining activity.

Meanwhile, the major North American Bitcoin mining operations continue to upscale their capacity amid the current hash rate drop in a bid to capture a larger portion of the market.

North American Bitcoin miners controlling a larger share of the global hash rate distribution may also contribute to putting the industry in better standing with regulators, especially in the area of environmental conservation.