A Chinese-backed cryptocurrency mine that is close to a nuclear missile facility in Wyoming was ordered to close by President Biden on Monday because he believed it posed a threat to American national security.
Biden gave MineOne Partners Limited and its affiliates operating close to Francis E. Warren Air Force Base an executive order on Monday directing them to close and sell their bitcoin mine outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming.
By virtue of a June 2022 acquisition, MineOne is “ultimately majority-owned by Chinese nationals,” according to the ruling.
According to the order, the business altered the land to make it suitable for specialized bitcoin mining activities. Approximately one mile separates it from an Air Force base that operates intercontinental ballistic missiles equipped with nuclear weapons.
“The proximity of the foreign-owned Real Estate to a strategic missile base and key element of America’s nuclear triad, and the presence of specialized and foreign-sourced equipment potentially capable of facilitating surveillance and espionage activities, presents a national security risk to the United States,” as per the executive order.
Within the next ninety days, the corporation and its affiliates were also required to remove their equipment from the premises. The order stipulates that the company must be sold or transferred within 120 days.
It happens months after The New York Times revealed in October of last year that Microsoft, which manages a neighboring data center connected to the Pentagon, complained to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) about the facility.
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According to the Times, Microsoft issued a warning that it might permit the Chinese to “pursue full-spectrum intelligence collection operations.”
An interagency panel called CFIUS examines mergers and transactions involving foreign corporations for potential threats to national security. It can compel businesses to change their ownership arrangements or remove themselves from the United States.
According to The Associated Press, a 2018 bill granted CFIUS the power to look into real estate deals close to sensitive locations in the United States.
According to the presidential order, MineOne did not submit the purchase of the property with CFIUS until the committee started looking into the deal.
The head of the CFIUS, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, praised the committee’s “gatekeeper role” in a statement on Monday.
“It [the divestment order] also highlights the critical gatekeeper role that CFIUS serves to ensure that foreign investment does not undermine our national security, particularly as it relates to transactions that present risk to sensitive U.S. military installations as well as those involving specialized equipment and technologies,” she added.
