US detaining Bitcoin mining equipment at border: report

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, at the request of the Federal Communications Commission, has been detaining imports of Bitmain’s Antminer ASIC miners at ports nationwide for up to two months.

The delays have impacted seven U.S.-based Bitcoin (BTC) mining companies without answers, according to a report from Blockspace. The detained models include the S21 and T21 series miners.

CBP has not disclosed the reason for the detentions or provided a timeline for resolution. Some affected companies have reported daily holding fees exceeding $200,000.

The holds do not appear to target other ASIC manufacturers, such as MicroBT or Canaan, and are reportedly concentrated at West Coast ports like San Francisco.

Border delay speculation

Industry speculation suggests the delays may be related to scrutiny of chips supplied by Xiamen Sophgo, a Chinese semiconductor company under investigation for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions, according to Blockspace.

Sophgo’s chips, including the CV1835, are reportedly used in certain Antminer models, such as the S19 and T21 series. Sophgo’s CEO, Micree Zhan, is also a co-founder of Bitmain, raising questions about potential links to the investigation.

The Department of Commerce began investigating Sophgo after discovering a chip linked to the company in a Huawei device. Huawei has faced U.S. sanctions since 2019 over national security concerns.

While no confirmed link exists between these sanctions and the detained Antminer shipments, sources speculate the FCC and CBP are inspecting imports for restricted components.