Publicly traded mining companies in the US are facing shipment delays of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) used for cryptocurrency mining due to heightened trade tensions with China. Increased scrutiny by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Chinese-manufactured ASICs has led to these delays, which began in November 2024. The situation has compounded financial pressures on US mining firms, especially following a significant reduction in block subsidy from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC in April 2024. With mining difficulty currently exceeding 114 trillion, the profitability for older hardware, like the Antminer S19 Pro, is being jeopardized. The sector is struggling as competing pressures include rising electricity and hosting costs. As a result, mining firms are exploring diversifying operations to include areas like AI data centers to adapt to these challenges.

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