Speculation swirls around Sophgo’s Huawei ties

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) maintains specific imports of Antminer ASIC miners at various ports across the country. Seven US-based bitcoin mining companies, who spoke anonymously, claimed that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had ordered CBP to make certain deliveries of Bitmain ASIC miners.

Interestingly, other Chinese producers of ASIC mining equipment, such as MicroBT and Canaan, have not been subjected to the same treatment.

Miners face a delay of months

According to Blockspace’s latest report, some shipments have been delayed for up to two months. The holdups occurred at ports across the country, including those in San Francisco and Detroit. Affected imports include Bitmain’s latest Antminer S21 and T21 models.

While CBP has acknowledged the detention of these goods, it has not clarified the reasons for the hold or a timeframe for releasing the shipments.

A source dealing with extended delays, now spanning “months,” said CBP detentions exceeding 30 days without a formal request to the Importer of Record (IOR) are very rare and are well below expected standards.

They also mentioned the observation of Advanced Guidance Unit (ATU) personnel at certain ports and noted that companies are increasingly advising their colleagues to avoid specific points of entry, especially those on the West Coast. Another individual revealed that CBP is holding approximately 200 units.

Despite repeated calls for clarity, both CBP and the FCC have refused to respond while continuing to collect daily fees that have exceeded $200,000. To address the matter, the affected company has hired a legal team to seek answers from the FCC.

Sophgo’s Huawei link putting Antminers in the spotlight?

Although the exact cause is unknown, one possible explanation is the presence of Sophgo chips on the Antminer control boards. Sophgo has come under scrutiny for allegedly violating US sanctions by supplying chips to Huawei, a company subject to trade restrictions since 2019.

Sophgo and Bitmain share the same CEO, Micree Zhan. After a Sophgo chip was found in a Huawei device, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) ended its business relationship with the company.

While no definitive link has been established between the import stops and this controversy, sources have verified that Bitmain uses the Sophgo CV1835 chip in the Antminer T21 and some S19 models, including the S19 XP, S19 Pro and S19j Pro.

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