Cryptocurrency mining is coming to downtown Douglas.

The City of Douglas is expected to reach an agreement with Hampshire Andersen Financial Division’s digital currency branch to bring a second cryptocurrency mine to the city. There is already one crypto mine located near the intersection of Brantley Boulevard and Pinecrest Drive on the south end of the city.

This latest mine, however, is slated for the heart of downtown — specifically the pocket park located on Madison Avenue behind Eve and across from the east side of Norris Shoes. Plans include de-commissioning the pocket park and placing the mine on the park’s grounds. Hampshire Andersen will build walls on the east and west sides of the park to obscure the mine from public view.

Crypto mining is a complicated process. However, in short, a crypto mine is a giant computer server that runs around the clock searching for codes that have bitcoin values attached to them. Whoever cracks a code gets the bitcoin value assigned to the code. Then the process starts all over. 

Crypto mining is controversial nearly every time a community considers it. Crypto mines generate a lot of money for municipalities, most notably in electricity revenues. However, it is considered to be environmentally irresponsible. The process uses massive amounts of electricity and critics say that the demand for electricity may keep older, more inefficient power plants operating. 

Then there is the noise. The servers produce a dull, low frequency hum that can be heard from a distance. That is part of the reason why Douglas’s current mine is located where it is — on the outskirts of town and far enough away from any homes so residents can’t hear the servers. 

Downtown will be another story. Edmund Burton, a spokesman for Hampshire Andersen, emphatically states that the walls his company plans to build will more than cover up the noise generated by the mines. “We have a great deal of experience placing our mines in populated areas. We are sensitive to the wishes of the community and, in this case, the downtown merchants and visitors. Once we transform the park into our facility, no one will know it’s there,” he says.

Once approved by the city commission, work on the mine will begin immediately. Everything is expected to be completed by late June or early July. 

The city has not stated how, or if, it plans to replace the pocket park with more greenspace in Douglas.