Arkansas scraps bill preventing Bitcoin mines close to military facilities

In January, the state of Arkansas rejected a bill that sought to prevent Bitcoin mining operations from being sited in close proximity to military facilities.

Arkansas is home to a diverse array of military installations, hosting more than 5,000 active-duty troops and five defense facilities. These include Little Rock Air Force Base, a National Guard base, a training center, and other sensitive military operations.

The bill said that it would only limit mines that were either in the process of construction or were planning a location in a 30-mile vicinity of sensitive military installations. It had included an exemption for Bitcoin mines that had already received a permit by or before December 31, 2024.

In recent years, Bitcoin mines have raised national security concerns over threats of foreign espionage. Last May, former President Joe Biden forced a Chinese-operated Bitcoin mine in Wyoming to relinquish land close to a strategic U.S. missile base, which houses intercontinental ballistic missiles critical to nuclear deterrence.

"The proximity of the foreign-owned real estate to a strategic missile base... and the presence of specialized and foreign-sourced equipment potentially capable of facilitating surveillance and espionage activities, presents a national security risk" the Biden administration said .

Two years ago, two Arkansas-based firms were scrutinized for their alleged relationship to the Chinese Communist Party: the crypto miner Jones Digital LLC, and parts manufacturer Risever Machinery LLC.

“It just raised a lot of red flags on what's going on there that we felt like it was important for the attorney general to look a little bit deeper," Arkansas Agriculture Secretary Wes Ward said at the time.

Separately, other Arkansas officials have criticized companies with ties to China for purchasing real estate in the state. “China is a hostile foreign adversary and under my administration, we will follow the law and not allow companies controlled by the Chinese Communist Party to buy up and exploit Arkansas land,” Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said two years ago.