A prominent US congressman has formally requested federal regulators launch a national security investigation into Chinese bitcoin mining equipment manufacturer Bitmain Technologies and its affiliate Cango, marking a significant escalation in regulatory scrutiny of foreign-controlled mining operations on American soil.
Representative Zachary Nunn of Iowa, who serves on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, urged the Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to investigate the firms’ expanding American presence. The request, reported on September 11, 2025, comes as court documents reveal the true scope of Bitmain’s proprietary US mining operations for the first time.
Growing Congressional Concerns
The call for federal review represents the first formal congressional action targeting Bitmain’s American operations, despite the company’s substantial footprint in the US bitcoin mining sector. Customs records show Bitmain imported more than 50 exahash per second (EH/s) of S19XP mining machines into the United States between July 2023 and March 2024. In November 2024, the company’s transaction with Cango packaged 50 EH/s of on-rack hashrate into a publicly traded entity, offering unprecedented visibility into its proprietary US mining capacity.
Nunn’s request comes amid revelations from multiple ongoing lawsuits that expose how Bitmain has been deploying excess inventory through private hosting arrangements across American facilities. Court filings reveal active operations in Texas, Tennessee, and other states, with the company maintaining direct ownership of thousands of mining rigs while contracting third-party facilities for power and cooling services.
Operational and Legal Implications
The potential CFIUS review could impose significant compliance burdens on Bitmain’s US operations, which span multiple states and involve substantial infrastructure investments. Current legal disputes reveal the company maintains hosting agreements for operations including 2,700 Antminers in Van Vleck, Texas, and 7,143 Antminer S21s generating approximately 2.4 EH/s in Puryear, Tennessee.
A national security review could result in forced divestiture requirements, operational restrictions, or enhanced monitoring protocols that would fundamentally alter Bitmain’s business model in the United States. Such measures would likely affect not only Bitmain’s direct mining operations but also its extensive network of hosting partnerships with American data center operators.
Industry-Wide Ramifications
The congressional intervention signals heightened political sensitivity around foreign control of critical bitcoin mining infrastructure as the sector continues expanding across American energy markets. With bitcoin recently surging toward $114,000, mining profitability has reached multi-year highs, intensifying focus on which entities control the computational power securing the network.
The timing of Nunn’s request coincides with broader congressional scrutiny of Chinese technology companies’ American operations across multiple sectors. For the bitcoin mining industry, which relies heavily on Chinese-manufactured hardware, a successful CFIUS investigation could establish precedents affecting other foreign mining operators and equipment suppliers.
The Treasury Department has not yet responded to the congressman’s request, and representatives for Bitmain and Cango were not immediately available for comment. The potential review would mark the first formal national security investigation into a major bitcoin mining operation in the United States.
