Thousands of crypto mining rigs have started moving out of US ports after prolonged seizures, marking a major development for the Bitcoin mining industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has begun releasing Chinese-made crypto miners after months of being held at various ports of entry. Taras Kulyk, CEO of mining manufacturer Synteq Digital, told Reuters that \u201cthousands of units have been released\u201d following the seizure of up to 10,000 mining rigs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cApparently, some folks in CBP really didn\u2019t like Bitcoin mining and wanted to give the entire sector a headache\u2014which they did quite well,\u201d Kulyk added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luxor Technology\u2019s chief operating officer, Ethan Vera, confirmed that while some shipments have been freed, \u201cright now that is still a minority of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The delay primarily stemmed from an investigation into Bitmain-related chip designer Sophgo, which was linked to the US Department of Commerce\u2019s probe in October 2023. The investigation was triggered after similar chips appeared in a Huawei AI processor. Huawei has been under US sanctions since 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite Sophgo denying any business ties with Huawei, the CBP continued holding shipments of Bitmain\u2019s Antminer application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) since at least September 2023. Other Chinese ASIC manufacturers, however, were not affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One company claimed it had been charged over $200,000 in holding fees for 200 ASIC miners in November. The CBP\u2019s actions reportedly followed a request from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The release of these miners coincides with new 10% tariffs on Chinese imports imposed by the Trump administration. Meanwhile, similar tariff plans involving Canada and Mexico are still moving forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China dominates the crypto mining hardware industry, supplying 98% of all mining chips. To mitigate future trade disruptions, Bitmain recently expanded production to the US, aiming to speed up deliveries and support industry partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US remains a dominant player in Bitcoin mining, with 38% of the Bitcoin network hashrate based in the country, according to The Chain Bulletin\u2019s Bitcoin Mining Map. Four of the largest publicly traded Bitcoin miners\u2014MARA Holdings, Core Scientific, CleanSpark, and Riot Platforms\u2014are also headquartered in the US.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thousands of crypto mining rigs have started moving out of US ports after prolonged seizures, marking a major development for the Bitcoin mining industry. US Customs Releases Thousands of Crypto Miners The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has begun releasing Chinese-made crypto miners after months of being held at various ports of entry. Taras […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":10068,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,43,40],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13859","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"category-general-news","9":"category-regulation"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n