Three Chinese Bitcoin Mining Companies Move to the U.S. Amid Tariff Issues

Chinese bitcoin mining machine manufacturers, Bitmain, Canaan, and MicroBT, are establishing production bases in the United States amid President Trump’s tariff war.

According to a Reuters report, these manufacturing giants, which account for 90% of bitcoin mining rig production, are moving their business operations to the U.S. to circumvent tariffs.

Bitcoin Mining Firms Move to the U.S.

The U.S.-China trade war is sparking significant shifts in bitcoin supply chains, prompting U.S. firms to prioritize “politically acceptable” hardware sourcing options strategically. Recall that the tariff war between the two countries moved various Bitcoin miners to increase the importation of mining rigs. This saves them from having to purchase these machines at a higher price.

Bitmain, the largest of the three companies by sales, initiated U.S. production of mining rigs in December. This was a strategic move following Trump’s presidential election win the previous month.

Canaan began small-scale production in the U.S. to avoid tariffs and reduce costs for the company and its customers following Trump’s April announcement.

MicroBT, on its part, announced that it is implementing a U.S. localization strategy to mitigate the impact of tariffs.

All three companies are positioned at the upstream end of a business chain that includes bitcoin mining, IT infrastructure, and trading platforms. As of December 2023, the three companies accounted for 95.4% of the hardware market in terms of computing power sales, according to Frost & Sullivan. Meanwhile, Canaan executive, Leo Wang, warned of potential “collateral damage” from U.S. restrictions. He cited the U.S. blocklist of Bitmain’s Sophgo AI affiliate due to security concerns.

Effects of China’s Stance On Crypto

China used to control the entire bitcoin value chain, from manufacturing mining rigs to mining and trading. However, its government banned crypto activities years ago, citing financial stability risks.

This resulted in traders halting their crypto services, while companies, miners, and exchanges seek international recognition abroad. Bitmain, Canaan, and MicroBT’s early mover advantage in designing high-performance mining chips helped them fend off Western competitors.