Urban dimension of Crypto mines dynamics: a spatial approach. USA focus

In recent decades, the prevailing narration of digital has been focused on the immaterial and a-spatial dimension of the phenomenon, neglecting the paradigms related to the spatial concentration of physical resources and equipment representing the “backstage” of digital dynamics. In particular, the environmental impacts of digital technology on territory and landscape have been neglected and under studied. In this framework, the recent development of data mining activities for virtual currency stressed these impacts. As a consequence, conflicting scenarios are emerging in relation both to an intensive use of territory through very large industrial buildings used to host thousands of computers in continuous cycle operation, and in relation to an energy-intensive dynamic that is not always sustainable. To better understand factors affecting data mining location choice, this paper investigates real dynamics with a focus on the United States, a natural laboratory and good proxy for understanding global scenario. The results will reveal a predilection of miners in areas with low energy costs, but not relative to rural areas as it could be thought, but rather in geographical proximity to urban zones where it is easier to find ICT (Information Communication Technologies) workers and maintenance and assistance services for the data factories. This proximity, however, leads to an amplification of the possible conflicts linked to the critical described externalities.