New York Times: U.S. government monitors Bitcoin mining companies with ties to China over national security concerns

Odaily Planet Daily News U.S. government officials have been paying close attention to certain cryptocurrency mining operations related to China. One of the sites authorities are monitoring is a crypto mining operation in Wyoming near a Microsoft data center that supports some Pentagon operations. In a report about the operation, Microsoft said: "There is no direct indication of malicious activity by this entity. However, until further evidence is discovered, we believe that the industrial-scale crypto mining hashrate and the power of industrial-scale cryptomining in Microsoft data centers and three U.S. The presence of an unknown number of Chinese citizens near one of the strategic missile bases may pose a significant threat." The company involved, Bit Origin, reportedly chose the location due to an agreement with a local utility provider rather than proximity to Microsoft facilities to convert infrastructure from a pork processing facility to an encryption data center. The company moved its operations from Indiana to Wyoming in September and reported that it had deployed 3,200 mining machines as of September 30. (New York Times)