Discounts and bundle deals were offered to mining operators, as 2025 ends on a bad note for the crypto market and the mining industry. Bitmain, the largest manufacturer of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), the machines used to mine proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrencies, has reportedly slashed prices on several generations of mining hardware amid sector-wide turmoil for the mining industry. The company is offering bundle deals and discounts across the board, including on its S19 and S21 series machines that would have been considered “distressed sales” earlier in 2025 when Bitcoin (BTC) was rising in price, according to TheMinerMag. Even newer, flagship mining hardware like the S21 immersion-cooled ASICs were offered at discounts of $7 per terahash-second (TH/s), and some hardware bundles were auctioned off to mining operators that could “name their own price,” TheMinerMag said. Read more
US authorities are investigating Chinese Bitcoin mining hardware giant Bitmain over potential national security risks tied to alleged remote capabilities, according to Bloomberg. The leading Bitcoin mining application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) manufacturer, Bitmain, which is based in China, is reportedly under investigation in the US over national security concerns. According to a Friday Bloomberg report, an unspecified US official and six other anonymous people familiar with the matter said that Bitmain’s hardware is at the center of a federal investigation known as “Operation Red Sunset.” The investigation, led by the US Department of Homeland Security, reportedly seeks to determine whether the ASICs could be remotely controlled for spying or to sabotage the US power grid. US authorities previously investigated Bitmain-linked Chinese chip designer Xiamen Sophgo over an alleged business relationship with US-sanctioned company Huawei in October 2024. This was followed by the US Customs and Border Pro...