Bitmain Deepens U.S. Expansion Through Eric Trump-Backed American Bitcoin Amid Security Scrutiny
Bitmain, the China-based Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer previously flagged by U.S. security agencies over remote-control concerns, has partnered with Eric Trump's American Bitcoin Corp., Bloomberg reports. American Bitcoin, which listed in New York last September with Eric Trump's stake then worth about $548 million, plans to purchase thousands of Bitmain Antminer machines and is collaborating on a large Texas data center project called Vega, roughly the size of five football fields. In May 2024, President Biden ordered removal of thousands of Bitmain miners from a Wyoming site near Warren Air Force Base after the Committee on Foreign Investment flagged national security risks. Bitmain Global Sales Director Irene Gao said the firm will open a new headquarters and assembly line in Texas or Florida, hire 250 local staff, and announced its S23 Hydro miners—priced at $17,400 per unit—secured over $1 billion in preorders to be manufactured in the U.S.