Key Points
- US President Joe Biden has ordered a China-linked crypto mining company to stop using land near a Wyoming nuclear missile base.
- The firm, MineOne Cloud Computing Investment, has been instructed to sell the property within 120 days due to national security concerns.
President Joe Biden of the United States has issued an order prohibiting a crypto mining company linked to China from utilizing land in proximity to a nuclear missile base in Wyoming.
Order Details
The order, announced by the White House on May 13, mandates MineOne Cloud Computing Investment and its associates to relinquish the property used as a crypto mining facility near the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
The directive to revoke the company’s property rights was based on national security concerns. Biden stated that there is credible evidence suggesting that MineOne Partners Limited, a company primarily owned by Chinese nationals, may pose a threat to the national security of the United States.
MineOne’s Operations
MineOne obtained the property in June 2022 and subsequently made modifications to facilitate crypto mining in close proximity to the Air Force base. The military base is a strategic missile base and houses intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to the order.
The company and its affiliates are also obligated to remove all equipment installed on the site following the improvements. The order further restricts entities linked to China from accessing the site, which is less than a mile away from the base.
The company has been given a 120-day deadline from the date of the order to sell the property, and it is not permitted to transfer it to third parties.
Previous Concerns
Tech giant Microsoft, which operates a data center nearby, has previously raised concerns about this specific site. The location could potentially enable the Chinese to engage in comprehensive intelligence collection operations, as per a report submitted by the Microsoft team to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) in August 2022.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who also serves as the chairperson of the committee, stated that the order to force MineOne to sell the land underscores the critical role of CFIUS in ensuring that foreign investment does not compromise national security.
MineOne raised over $20 million for its inaugural fund within a month in 2021. The fund, launched in October 2021, was actively subscribed by U.S. institutional investors and high-net worth individuals.
The Biden Administration previously ordered a crackdown on the U.S. Bitcoin mining industry, citing China as a model to emulate as part of its ongoing war on crypto.
Crypto mining was significantly reduced by the ruling regime in China in 2021, triggering a migration of mining operations, many of which relocated to the U.S. The latest White House order was issued just a day before the Biden administration is scheduled to significantly raise tariffs on several Chinese imports, including electric vehicles.
