Foreign real estate deals near military bases in the United States like F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne will be harder to accomplish going forward.
The U.S. Department of Treasury is amending its definitions of a military installation, adding to the list of military installations covered by the Committee on Foreign Investment int he United States (CFIUS)
The new list adds almost 60 military installations across 30 states to the existing list of 10 military installations that CFIUS has jurisdiction over. That enables the federal agency to have more scrutiny over real estate deals that happen in proximity to the bases.
The rule follows the closure and forced sell-out of a Chinese-owned cryptocurrency business that in 2022 had set up shop within a mile of the F.E. Warren Air Force Base.
In May, President Joe Biden issued an executive order forcing the company to immediately cease operations, remove all of its equipment, and transfer its ownership to an approved buyer.
F.E. Warren is a strategic missile base, home to the Minutemen III intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are a key element of the nation’s nuclear triad.
In making the order, Biden said there was “credible evidence” suggesting that the Chinese-owned cryptocurrency could take actions that could “impair the national security of the United States.”
CFIUS Has No Statute Of Limitations
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States was established in 1975 by President Gerald R. Ford under the Defense Production Act of 1950.
Chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury, it is tasked with reviewing the national security implications of foreign investment in the United States, and includes representatives from 16 federal agencies, including the Department of Defense and Homeland Security.
The body has been given more authority over the years, most recently under the 2018 Foreign Investment Risk Review and Modernization Act. Its findings are not always publicly announced. It uses classified information from the U.S. Intelligence Community and is not bound by any statute of limitations.
Companies involved in acquisitions by foreign firms are supposed to voluntarily notify CFIUS, something that did not happen in the case of the MineOne facility near F.E. Warren.
CFIUS said it had come to light through a tip from a member of the general public instead.
Cryptocurrency is a computer intensive process, running trillions of formulas every second, and generally requiring the use of supercomputers. Having one next to a military base that’s owned by an adversary is problematic.
MineOne Site Purchased By CleanSpark
The MineOne Facility has since been purchased by an American owner, Las Vegas-based CleanSpark, a purchase that CFIUS had to first sign off on.
CleanSpark CEO Zack Bradford has said he expects the plant to have close to 40 jobs, and that it will be staffed in three shifts, so will have employees on site monitoring things around the clock.
The MineOne Facility by F.E. Warren Air Force Base isn’t the only location CleanSpark is planning. It also bought a 30 MW site in Cheyenne’s Campstool Business Park and has plans to own additional sites in the Cowboy State.
“We expect Wyoming will be a meaningful part of our growth over the next four years,” Bradford told lawmakers shortly after the purchase in September. “Wyoming is now the fifth state that we will be operating in.”
Wyoming has been an attractive venue for cryptocurrency companies because of its climate, but some companies have struggled to line up the power resources that the computing facilities need.
Bradford told Wyoming lawmakers his company expects to make significant investment into additional power grid infrastructure, including substations, to help build that capability in for his company.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
