On September 25, 2025, a breaking news story shocked the global cryptocurrency and technology community: U.S. federal agents raided the Lonestar Dream Bitcoin mining facility located in Pyote, Texas, directly targeting the ASIC repair center operated by ADW Tech, a subsidiary of Bitmain. The operation was led by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with multiple federal and state agencies involved, resulting in the detention of several employees of ADW Tech, a contractor for Bitmain. This was not merely an immigration enforcement action; it involved a deeper geopolitical struggle between China and the U.S. over AI chips, Bitcoin mining equipment manufacturing, and national security, indicating that geopolitical risks in the cryptocurrency industry are escalating.
- The Raid: A "War-like" Enforcement Action
According to Blockspace, the raid began at sunrise, targeting contractors maintaining Antminer machines at a 30-megawatt mining facility recently sold by Poolin.
Eyewitness Accounts: Witnesses described the raid as resembling a war. "Helicopters, snipers, armed personnel," a source told Blockspace, noting that an ICE helicopter was hovering overhead, followed by "a fleet of black Tahoes arriving on the scene."
Multiple Agencies Involved: Several agencies were present at the scene: ICE, FBI, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) all participated in the operation.
Detained Employees: Law enforcement took 12 to 13 workers (about half of the repair shop's total staff) from the Pyote facility, citing their failure to present valid identification. The same source indicated that ICE's focus was on Chinese nationals, detaining all individuals with expired visas.
The raid did not affect other local operators, such as Genesis Digital Assets, which operates a 195-megawatt Bitcoin mining facility in Pyote but was not targeted in this operation.
- Bitmain and ASIC Miners: The Focus of U.S.-China Tech Rivalry
This action coincides with the increasing scrutiny by the U.S. government on Bitmain-related repair centers, reflecting a deeper geopolitical struggle between the U.S. and China in the fields of AI chips and mining equipment manufacturing.
Seizure of ASIC Miners: This raid is closely related to the Trump administration's lengthy reporting on issues surrounding the importation of mining machines. By the end of 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection began sporadically seizing and detaining shipments of ASIC miners at U.S. ports, sometimes holding them for months and charging detention fees, without providing specific reasons.
AI Chip Concerns: Officials stated they were looking for restricted AI chips on ASIC miner control boards from Sophgo. Sophgo is a semiconductor company where Bitmain's CEO, Jihan Wu, also serves. The U.S. Department of Commerce is actively investigating Sophgo for potential sanctions violations, which is directly related to the current federal focus on these miners and repair centers.
Bitmain's U.S. Factory Plans: Bitmain, a leading manufacturer of Bitcoin mining ASIC hardware, announced in July plans to open its first U.S. factory by the end of 2025. The current goal is to begin production in Texas or Florida as early as early 2026. Bitmain has already hired 250 employees locally to expedite delivery, streamline repair processes, and solidify its market position in the U.S.
- Bitcoin Mining: Energy, Environment, and Geopolitics
The core of the Bitcoin mining industry is ASIC hardware, but manufacturing and operating these miners is fraught with challenges.
Energy Consumption and Environmental Issues: Bitcoin mining consumes 187.9 terawatt-hours of energy annually, exceeding the energy consumption of some countries and raising concerns about its environmental impact. A 2025 study by Harvard University found that BTC mining in the U.S. is linked to pollution affecting 1.9 million people, intensifying calls for more environmentally friendly methods.
Supply Chain and Tariffs: Manufacturing these miners in Southeast Asia faces numerous challenges. For instance, supply chain issues and U.S. tariffs have led to a 24% to 36% increase in the price of miners made in Asia. This has eroded the slim profits miners gained after the Bitcoin halving in April 2024.
Bitmain's Strategic Shift: Bitmain's decision to relocate some manufacturing operations to the U.S. indicates their efforts to address these issues. By producing Antminers in the U.S., they can avoid import tariffs, bring products to market faster, and provide quicker repair services for U.S. buyers. Texas offers cheap energy and friendly cryptocurrency regulations, while Florida boasts a thriving tech industry, making it an ideal location for manufacturing miners. This move also helps alleviate U.S. concerns over Chinese tech companies, including Bitmain's AI subsidiary, Sophgo, which has been blacklisted by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Sustainability: Bitmain has been committed to this, launching energy-efficient miners like the Antminer S23 Hydro. This miner uses liquid cooling technology, achieving a hash rate of 580 terahashes per second (TH/s) with a power efficiency of 9.5 J/TH. The U.S. factory can focus on producing such energy-efficient miners, prioritizing renewable energy and complying with local regulations.
- Market Competition and Future Outlook
The Bitcoin mining industry is highly competitive. Block's Proto ASIC miners may challenge Bitmain's dominance with their modular design. As competition for cheap energy among AI data centers intensifies, resources are becoming scarce, and Bitmain needs to establish solid energy partnerships as a hedge.
You can view Bitmain's relocation to the U.S. as a risky bet on the future of mining or as a significant step forward for a mining economy anchored in the U.S. as the ASIC chessboard. The success of this factory will depend on Bitmain's ability to manufacture cutting-edge ASIC miners, understand complex regulations, and meet the demands of U.S. miners in a fiercely competitive market. As the industry evolves, this move by Bitmain could set new standards for Bitcoin mining hardware and solidify the U.S. position as a global cryptocurrency hub.
Conclusion:
The ICE raid on the Texas Bitcoin mining facility and the arrest of Bitmain employees is the latest manifestation of the U.S.-China rivalry over AI chips, Bitcoin mining equipment manufacturing, and national security. This serves not only as a warning to the cryptocurrency industry but also highlights the profound impact of geopolitical factors on the development of the Web3 industry. Bitmain's plans to establish a factory in the U.S. represent a strategic adjustment seeking compliance and localization to meet challenges in this complex context. In the future, the development of the cryptocurrency industry will not only be a competition of technology and markets but also a multidimensional struggle among countries in regulation, security, and geopolitical aspects.
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Original Article: “U.S. Immigration Raids Texas Bitcoin (BTC) Mining Farm, Bitmain Factory Workers Arrested”
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