Chinese Bitcoin mining manufacturer Bitmain Technologies Ltd. has reportedly been at the center of a months-long federal investigation in the US over concerns that its products could pose risks to America’s national security.
According to a US official and six other people familiar with the matter, the investigation, allegedly known as “Operation Red Sunset,” was launched to assess whether Bitmain’s Bitcoin mining hardware could be “remotely controlled for spying or to sabotage the American power grid.”
Bloomberg sources claim that the probe was accompanied by policy deliberations at the White House’s National Security Council, with talks that began under the previous government and reportedly carried over into the early months of the Trump administration.
In July, a report from the US Senate Intelligence Committee alleged that the Bitcoin mining giant’s hardware could be manipulated from China and presented “several disturbing vulnerabilities” to the nation.
Additionally, members of the US House of Representatives have called for a federal investigation into Bitmain. In a September letter, Representative Zachary Nunn asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to review the Chinese firm, citing potential links to foreign state actors.
“This is something that our crypto industry and crypto policy should turn a lot more focus to,” Feith suggested. However, Bitmain rejected these concerns in a statement to Bloomberg, affirming that “it’s ‘unequivocally false’ to assert that the company can remotely control its machines from China.”
The firm stated that it “strictly complies with US and applicable laws and regulations and has never engaged in activities that pose risks to US national security,” adding that it “has no awareness of or any information at all regarding any alleged federal investigation purported to be called ‘Operation Red Sunset.’”
Moreover, the Bitcoin mining giant revealed that it was unaware of the investigation related to tariffs or import duties, noting that the detentions of its machines were due to concerns raised by the Federal Communications Commission and “nothing out of the ordinary was found.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security’s spokesperson, Mike Alvarez, told the news media outlet that the DHS “does not comment on open and active investigations.”
