A bill titled the Mined in America Act has been introduced in the United States, aimed at stimulating the domestic production of bitcoin mining equipment and reducing reliance on Chinese suppliers.
This is reported by Business • Media
Main Provisions of the Bill and New Strategy
The initiative, proposed by Senators Bill Cassidy and Cynthia Lummis, includes the implementation of voluntary certification for companies and pools engaged in mining. According to the document, participants in this program will gradually phase out equipment manufactured by companies linked to “foreign adversaries.” This approach is intended to promote the development of American manufacturing of mining installations.
A separate element of the bill is the support for the creation of a strategic reserve of bitcoins, which will allow the country to strengthen its financial security and build its own stock of digital assets.
“Digital asset mining is a big part of our economy. We should be doing it here in America. Proud to introduce the Mined in America Act with @SenLummis, which secures supply chains, backs U.S. manufacturing, and supports this key industry.”
Dependence on Imports and Involvement of Government Entities
Despite the fact that the U.S. currently controls over 37% of the global bitcoin hash rate, most mining equipment is imported from abroad. According to the initiative’s authors, about 97% of ASIC devices are produced by Chinese companies Bitmain and MicroBT. This creates a significant dependence on supplies from China, despite the U.S.’s leading position in the cryptocurrency mining sector.
After 2021, when China tightened its mining policies, the U.S. significantly strengthened its position and became the leader in hash rate, which now exceeds that of its closest competitor by twofold.
The development of safer and more energy-efficient mining equipment will be handled by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. Their involvement is expected to help American companies create an internal manufacturing cycle—from the production of equipment to its operation and the formation of a strategic reserve of bitcoins.
Additionally, the bill contains elements of industrial policy aimed at developing a closed-loop production and utilization chain for mining equipment.
Dennis Porter, head of the Satoshi Action Fund, emphasized that the implementation of this initiative will reduce the U.S.’s dependence on external suppliers and strengthen the country’s energy infrastructure.
The last two years have been marked by issues with the import of equipment: the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has repeatedly detained thousands of Bitmain ASIC devices, mistakenly considering them prohibited radio frequency devices.
It is worth noting that earlier reports indicated that miners’ losses on each bitcoin reached $14,000.