Photographer Jesse Rieser for WIRED Magazine

Jesse went to Rockdale, TX, to photograph the closed Alcoa plant (the town’s one time financial lifeline) along with the players that worked to bring the world’s largest bitcoin mining facility, Bitmain, to the community. Bitmain had promised to create between 400 and 600 jobs, but when only 30 new jobs were created, Rockdale learned a lesson about the elusive promise of virtual currency  

Photographer: Jesse Rieser
Client: WIRED Magazine
Director of Photography: Anna Alexander
Photo Editor: Samantha Cooper