(Bloomberg) -- The US ordered a Chinese crypto mining company to vacate and sell a property it bought near a Wyoming Air Force base that houses intercontinental ballistic missiles, calling the firm a national security threat.
MineOne Partners Ltd. and its affiliated units and companies “might take action that threatens to impair the national security” of the US, the White House said in an order. The firm must divest the real estate it bought in 2022 near the F.E. Warren Air Force Base that houses US nuclear missiles.
MineOne declined to comment.
Federal and state officials have sounded the alarm about what they say is a pattern of Chinese companies buying land near US military installations. Lawmakers in dozens of states have introduced bills that would ban China-linked businesses and Chinese citizens from buying land near military bases.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which is known as CFIUS, determined that the land purchase posed a risk after conducting a review. MineOne never submitted the transaction to a review before completing it, according to Treasury, which chairs CFIUS. The Justice, Homeland Security, Commerce, State and Defense departments are also among the members.
“The proximity of the foreign-owned cryptocurrency mining facility to a strategic missile base and key element of America's nuclear triad, and the presence of specialized and foreign-sourced equipment potentially capable of facilitating surveillance and espionage activities, presented a significant national security risk that led to CFIUS's referral to the president.” Treasury said in a statement.
CFIUS recently sought and was granted expanded authority to review real estate deals made near certain US military installations. Members of Congress have also pushed the committee to consider certain real estate deals involving agricultural land.
According to the White House, the plot of land is located within a mile of the Air Force base.
--With assistance from Tony Capaccio, Larry Liebert and David Pan.
(Updates with details on CFIUS concerns in fifth paragraph.)
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