President Biden has blocked a Chinese-backed firm from operating a bitcoin mining operation near a Wyoming missile base, citing national security concerns.
President Joe Biden has ordered the prohibition of a land acquisition by MineOne Cloud Computing Investment I L.P. near a Wyoming Air Force base, citing national security concerns.
The President's ruling is based on intelligence that MineOne Partners Limited, a company with majority Chinese ownership, had planned to purchase real estate within a one-mile radius of Warren AFB.
MineOne had acquired the real estate in June 2022 and developed it into a Bitcoin mining facility. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) intervened after receiving a public tip-off, identifying the transaction as a significant risk to national security.
The President's order mandates a complete divestment of MineOne's interests in the property within 120 days and the removal of all related equipment and improvements within 90 days. CFIUS will verify the process, ensuring compliance. Further, MineOne and its affiliates are denied any access to the property, either physically or logically, until the divestment and removal are confirmed by CFIUS. The Attorney General is empowered to enforce this order, and noncompliance could result in additional penalties.
The divestment order, coordinated with CFIUS, follows a 2018 law that empowers the committee to review real estate transactions near sensitive areas, including military bases. Notably, the order comes amid escalating economic tensions between the U.S. and China, with the U.S. set to issue new tariffs on Chinese imports, including electric vehicles and semiconductors.
Both President Biden and his likely Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump, have emphasized their tough stances on China, reflecting the nation's strategic rivalry with the world's second-largest economy.
The Treasury Department, led by Secretary Janet Yellen, who chairs CFIUS, has not detailed the specific national security concerns, only mentioning the potential risks associated with "specialized and foreign-sourced equipment" near the Air Force base.
The implications of the President's order could have broader consequences for foreign investments in proximity to U.S. military installations and sensitive technologies. The current state of this event will be closely monitored as MineOne complies with the divestment and removal process, under the scrutiny of CFIUS and the U.S. government.
