US Lawmaker Urges Federal Review of Bitmain and Cango Over Security Concerns: Report
A Republican lawmaker has called on the U.S. Treasury Department to review the activities of Bitmain and its bitcoin mining affiliate Cango, citing national security concerns.
According to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, Representative Zachary Nunn of Iowa, a member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, sent a Sept. 2 letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent requesting that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) investigate the two firms over their growing presence in the American market.
Nunn argued that the companies “appear to be scaling operations in the U.S. through complex ownership structures and financing arrangements that may not be fully transparent to regulators or the public,” Bloomberg reported, citing the letter.
Bitmain denied reports that it is seeking to acquire Cango, while both companies said they comply with U.S. laws and are not affiliated with the Chinese government.
Cango, formerly a Chinese auto services platform listed in the U.S., has recently pivoted into bitcoin mining and emerged as one of the industry’s top five players. Its August production of 664 BTC surpassed that of CleanSpark, making it the third-largest miner after MARA and IREN by realized hashrate.
As previously reported, Cango effectively serves as a proprietary mining proxy for Bitmain through Bitmain’s financial arm Antalpha, which financed Cango’s entry into mining and has become its majority owner.
Nunn’s letter cited potential risks, including Cango’s alleged ties to foreign state actors, Bitmain’s rumored interest in U.S. power generation assets, and the policy implications of foreign-made mining chips operating domestically. He urged CFIUS to investigate, noting past cases in which Chinese firms were blocked from acquiring or operating sensitive infrastructure.
While the largest U.S. mining companies have slowed hardware purchases, Bitmain’s equipment still underpins much of the mining sector. American Bitcoin Corp., the newly listed miner backed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, recently exercised an option to purchase more than $300 million worth of rigs from Bitmain.
Treasury officials did not immediately respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment on Nunn’s letter.
