Plan a Crypto Mine Near a U.S. Military Base? Expect a Bigger Hassle Now.

After the U.S. president weighed in to put a stop to a China-tied crypto operation near a nuclear missile base, the Treasury Department has finalized a rule to tighten scrutiny on foreign property near military installations.
The rule will give the U.S. government more authority to review real estate acquisitions like MineOne’s bitcoin-mining effort in Wyoming.

Foreign real estate deals near sensitive U.S. military bases will get more government scrutiny under a new rule from the U.S. Department of the Treasury that has emerged after President Joe Biden shut a China-tied crypto mining operation beside a Wyoming nuclear missile base earlier this year.

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That business, MineOne, was in the midst of being acquired by the U.S. firm CleanSpark (CLSK) when it ran afoul of the national-security concerns from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

In May, Biden ordered the bitcoin mining facility near Warren Air Force Base to stop operations, citing a threat to national security as it uses foreign-sourced technology. MineOne, which the government noted acquired the property as a business majority-owned by Chinese nationals, set up shop within a mile of the military facility in Cheyenne, which houses Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

The new rule issued on Friday expands the government’s authority to question foreign real-estate deals near a much longer list of military facilities than before.

“This final rule will significantly increase the ability of CFIUS to thoroughly review real estate transactions near bases and will allow us to deter and stop foreign adversaries from threatening our Armed Forces, including through intelligence gathering,” Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said in a statement.