Bitmain Takes Lead in U.S. Bitcoin Mining Operations

The Port of Walla Walla — Walla Walla County’s economic development agency — has unanimously approved a land lease and purchase option for Bitmain to build a new crypto mining facility. The company’s Ant Creek subsidiary will be able to lease 10 acres with the option to purchase it after a year. However, an initial option to purchase an additional 30 acres was removed from the agreement.

Ant Creek still has to agree to terms to complete the deal, the Union-Gazette reported. If so, it would pay about $4,700 a month in rent.

Bitmain has not publicly acknowledged the company as a subsidiary, but publicly available company registration information lists Bitmain CEO Jihan Wu as the sole executive officer of Ant Creek, as previously reported.

According to the joint communiqué, the company’s director Jeff Stearns described Ant Creek at the hearing as a blockchain company and an artificial intelligence company led by two different CEOs. Likewise, without specifying Bitmain, he allegedly positioned the company as the world’s largest crypto mining equipment manufacturer.

Walla Walla residents have expressed concern about the amount of energy the company takes from their community, which has some of the cheapest electricity rates in North America.

"It provides electricity and creates wealth for the power owners," local resident Robb Lincoln said, according to the joint bulletin.

The hearing was reportedly tense, with one resident being escorted out of the hearing during public comment.

Another community member criticized cryptocurrencies more generally.

"It's not used for legitimate business," Peder Fretheim told port commissioners. "It's used for two things: transactions where you want to dodge the law and speculation."

Crypto mining companies have been quick to flock to regions with surplus and cheap energy, but they are increasingly facing resistance from locals.

Elsewhere in Washington state, officials announced a moratorium on new crypto mining operations to consider their impact on community power grids. Mason County officials followed Washington’s Chelan County in imposing a temporary freeze on new mining operations.

Similarly, the government of Canada’s Quebec province recently instructed utility Hydro-Quebec to stop considering service requests from mining companies because of high demand.