Welcome to Mining Wednesday, where Blockspace covers the intersection of bitcoin mining, energy, and AI.

We’re covering the ensuing chaos from Trump’s '“Liberation Day” tariffs descending upon the Bitcoin mining market, including the crazy cost to import ASICs before the tariffs hit. Plus, headlines from the last few days & a wise crack from Penny Ether.

It’s about a 5 minute read.

Market Opens

Trump tariffs to disrupt $2B in ASIC miner imports

Bitcoin miners are scrambling to frontrun Trump’s infamous global tariffs, which are poised to increase prices on everything from ASIC miners, to electrical gear, and network infrastructure come April 9. 

“It’s a complete scramble,” Vera said on last week’s Mining Pod news roundup. “From the ASIC trading front and brokerage, miners have not been very proactive here. They have not necessarily frontrun orders and gotten them into the U.S…they’re operating in a less than a week period here to make sure all shipments that are coming out of SE Asia are picked up and getting delivered.”

Vera mentioned that ASIC prices could increase anywhere between 22-36% as a result of the tariffs. ASIC prices have trended slightly downward over the past year, according to data from Hashrate Index’s ASIC Price Index. A new-gen model, like the S21, currently runs miners roughly $3,400.

Companies are working overtime to pull forward ASIC orders before the tariffs take effect on April 9. Top firms are chartering flights at 2-4x the usual rate, anywhere from $2-3.5 million per flight according to estimates provided to Blockspace Synteq Digital CEO Taras Kulyk and Luxor COO Ethan Vera. 

Vera said that he believes air freight rates will eclipse 4x the usual fares as the deadline approaches. If miners had equipment contracted before April 5, they are exempt from the tariffs, Vera said, and any shipments contracted between April 5-9 will be subject to a reduced fee of 10%. 

The tariffs will hamper efforts to deploy hashrate in the U.S., the dominant market currently with an estimated 35-40% share of Bitcoin’s hashrate. As it stands, it’s likely that the tariffs will noticeably slow bitcoin’s hashrate growth this year versus prior expectations.

Blockspace estimates that U.S. bitcoin miners imported over $2.3 billion worth of ASIC miners last year and over $860 million in Q1. 

The Trump administration announced reciprocal tariffs last week on more than 180 countries in a daring policy move that has rocked international markets. For miners, the most pertinent tariffs are on Malaysia (24%), Thailand (36%), Indonesia (32%), China (104%), and Taiwan (32%). Leading ASIC manufacturers Bitmain, MicroBT, Canaan, Bitdeer, and Auradine fabricate ASIC miners, the beating heart of the bitcoin mining network, in the first three nations. Taiwan’s TSMC supplies the semiconductor chips that undergird the majority of these mining machines, but semiconductors are currently exempt from the reciprocal tariff schedule.

Notably, Bitmain and MicroBT, which collectively corner 90%+ of the ASIC miner market, moved their ASIC manufacturing capacity outside of China to these other countries in response to Trump’s China tariffs in his first term. MicroBT opened a U.S. assembly plant in 2023, and Kulyk said that Bitmain opened its first U.S. assembly line in January. Still, these plants represent a fraction of either manufacturer’s total production.

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Bitcoin Mining Headlines

Galaxy Digital pushes for Nasdaq listing

Market maker, Bitcoin miner, and general merchant bank Galaxy Digital has S-4 filing was approved by the SEC and will now seek a Nasdaq after moving from a Cayman Island entity to Delaware, SEC filings show - link

Inside Trump backedAmerican Bitcoin w/ Matt Prusak (Podcast)

Matt Prusak, CEO of American Bitcoin, joins us to discuss the strategic partnership between HUT 8 and the Trump family for its latest subsidiary, American Bitcoin. Hut 8 is reallocating nearly all of its self-mining assets (10 EH/s) to American Bitcoin and taking an 80% stake in the company - link

Bitcoin Hashprice Drops to Seven-Month Low, Pressuring Mining Margins

Bitcoin’s hashprice—a key mining revenue metric—fell below $40/PH/s on Monday before rebounding slightly to $41/PH/s on Tuesday, marking its lowest level since mid-September - link

Ionic Digital Explores AI, HPC Potential for Cedarvale Bitcoin Mine

Several major mining peers including Riot, IREN and Galaxy Digital have recently announced similar strategies, pausing Bitcoin hashrate expansion to allocate power capacity for HPC opportunities - link

Mining Tweet of the Week