Founder of a once-mighty antibitcoin coalition calls it quits and moves out of state: 'It's Sisyphean to do all this work'

Jackie Sawicky is moving to greener pastures.

What's happening?

The antibitcoin activist, who founded the Texas Coalition Against Cryptomining, is leaving Texas to enjoy a more favorable environment in Massachusetts, DL News reported, highlighting her "tireless and unpaid activism."

"It's Sisyphean to do all this work for almost three years to be directly undermined by the people being harmed by this technology," Sawicky said.

"They vote for it by voting for Ted Cruz and voting for Donald Trump."

Sawicky's move underscores the feeling in and around the cryptocurrency industry. Bitcoin is near an all-time high, and the incoming U.S. presidential administration has boosted the prospects of mine owners and investors. Texas officials may be even more friendly.

"When Gov. [Greg] Abbott said, 'Come to Texas, we've got a deregulated market in cheap energy,' they all came," Sawicky said.

Watch now: What's the point of leaf blowing anyway?

Why is this important?

DL News reported that many mining operations moved to Texas from China after the country banned the practice in 2021. Part of the problem is that crypto companies don't generate jobs or economic activity. Another is that crypto mining is environmentally devastating unless it is done off the grid through renewable energy, as it requires vast amounts of dirty energy-fueled electricity.

And while crypto mining has increasingly turned to renewable energy through major professional operations that have realized it's foolish not to invest in renewable given it effectively becomes free apart from maintenance, needing no fuel, that trend is still not reflective of the current reality that many bitcoin miners still draw from the grid. Meanwhile, others are buying up renewable energy infrastructure that would have otherwise gone to the grid, as was the case right in Texas, where Mara Holdings recently acquired a 112-megawatt wind farm in the northern part of the state.

Miners in the Lone Star State use as much power as 2.6 million homes — a massive problem since the state's isolated grid is decrepit. Advocates of crypto say investments, even when they may be perceived as pulling away from the grid, are still good for the renewable energy movement, but those investments may require patience to yield net benefits.

In Granbury, 35 miles southwest of Fort Worth, residents are suffering from the effects of noise pollution caused by a Mara Holdings (formerly Marathon Digital) operation. Sawicky helped with the resistance operation, which has led to a lawsuit alleging unrelenting health impacts, by providing "connections, direction, publicity," local resident Cheryl Shadden told DL News.

🗣️ Will America someday get all its energy from renewable sources?

🔘 Yes — very soon ☀️

🔘 Yes — by 2050 ⏰

🔘 Yes — by 2070 ⏳

🔘 Probably never ❌

🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind

What's being done about crypto mining in Texas?

For all the hard work by Sawicky and others, their results are lacking. DL News noted Riot Platforms' push to open a 256-acre mining facility in Corsicana, where Sawicky lives with her family, led the company to seek a tax abatement to save $14 million. Seven months after county commissioners voted against it, they reversed course in October.

"Just by them getting those abatements before the election happened, you could see the writing was on the wall," Sawicky said.

Cruz — a bitcoin investor and miner — has said he wants "Texas to be the oasis for bitcoin and cryptocurrency generally."