FCC and CBP Freeze Bitmain Antminer Imports Amid Scrutiny: Report

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Hongji Feng

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Hongji Feng

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Hongji is a crypto and tech reporter. He graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a Bachelor's and a Master's. He has previously interned at HTX (Huobi Global),...

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November 25, 2024

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The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has reportedly been instructed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to detain shipments of Bitmain Antminer units at ports across the country.

According to a November 25 report by Blockspace Media, the CBP specifically targets shipments of Bitmain’s newest application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) miners, the Antminer S21 and T21, while other manufacturers such as MicroBT and Canaan remain unaffected.

FCC’s Investigation Linked to Sophgo Chip Used in Bitmain Devices

The detentions, which have persisted for months in some cases, affect major ports, including locations such as San Francisco and Detroit. Multiple Bitcoin mining companies have reported long delays and uncertainty regarding when the shipments will be released.

Sources indicated that the FCC’s directive may be linked to investigating the components used in Bitmain’s ASIC miners, specifically the Sophgo CV1835 chip.

“CBP holds extending beyond 30 days with no clear requests of the Importer of Record (IOR) are beyond usual service standards and extremely rare,” one source stated, according to the report.

Sophgo is currently under scrutiny for its alleged ties to Huawei, which has faced U.S. sanctions since 2019. However, based on the report, no official confirmation connects the delays to this investigation.

Companies Face Mounting Costs Amid Prolonged Shipment Holds

Some affected companies have raised concerns about the lack of communication from the CBP and FCC. They report being charged substantial storage fees, with one firm accumulating over $200,000 while awaiting resolution for the 200 units.

Industry insiders have suggested that the FCC and CBP may inspect the detained units for any use of restricted hardware. Bitmain has used a variety of suppliers for its components, meaning not all units in the affected models necessarily contain the Sophgo chips in question.

“It’s worth noting that Bitmain sources control boards from a variety of vendors, so just because a Bitmain used the CV1835 chip for some models, it does not mean that every unit of that model houses the chip in question,” the report read.