Does Trump's trade war put Bitcoin at risk?

At the request of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized Bitcoin mining equipment (ASICs).

ASIC, or Application-Specific Integrated Circuit, is a specialized microchip designed specifically for Bitcoin mining. One of the largest producers of these chips is the Chinese company Bitmain from Beijing.

An official notice from Customs stated:

"We hereby inform you that on January 10, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized the property described below at SF INTL AIRPORT: BITMAIN S21 PRO."

Stricter customs controls for mining equipment

According to Taras Kulyk, CEO of the mining company Synteq Digital, experience almost all Asian ASIC manufacturers are currently experiencing customs clearance problems. Nuo Xu, founder of the China Digital Mining Association, also confirmed this. In a statement to Bloomberg, he said:
"US Customs started random inspections of almost all Bitcoin mining machines imported by air transport about three months ago."

These seizures appear to be a direct result of the trade offensive measures announced by President Donald Trump.

Trump wants to bring Bitcoin mining to the U.S.

During his election campaign, Trump promised to strengthen the U.S. mining industry. He stated:
"We want all remaining Bitcoins in the United States to be mined. This will help us be energy-dominant."

In practice, however, all remaining Bitcoins are unlikely to be mined exclusively by U.S. companies. The global distribution of mining capacity makes this virtually impossible.

Data from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance show that about 38% of the global Bitcoin hashrate comes from the United States. This currently makes the U.S. mining industry larger than China's. Still, international competition remains fierce, and the trade war could both strengthen and weaken the position of U.S. miners.