Reports indicate that US officials are keeping a watchful eye on Bitcoin miners associated with China due to national security apprehensions.
US government officials have been reported to be monitoring specific cryptocurrency mining operations linked to China. An article from The New York Times on October 13 revealed that many Bitcoin data centers in the US have direct ties to the Chinese government, raising concerns about their proximity to military bases and other locations associated with national security. One such site under surveillance was a mining operation in Wyoming, located near a Microsoft data center supporting certain Pentagon operations.
Microsoft has reported no direct evidence of malicious activities but raises concerns about the significant threat vectors posed by an industrial-scale crypto mining operation near a Microsoft data center and a strategic missile base in the US. Bit Origin, the company behind this operation, chose the location for its crypto data center based on utility agreements, not proximity to Microsoft. They moved their operations from Indiana to Wyoming and had 3,200 miners generating a hash rate of 320 petahash per second as of September 30.
The report underscored the consequences of establishing mining operations affiliated with the Chinese government or certain nationals in the midst of political tensions between the U.S. and China. In 2021, numerous mining companies left China due to the government’s ban on their operations, leading some to relocate to the United States and crypto-friendly jurisdictions like Texas and Wyoming.
Several U.S. authorities have been scrutinizing individuals or entities with connections to China in the cryptocurrency realm. On October 3, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on crypto wallets allegedly linked to the production of the drug fentanyl, which included several Chinese chemical manufacturers. Additionally, in July, allegations of crypto firm Prometheum having ties to the Chinese government prompted calls for an investigation by six members of Congress.
