Bitcoin miners have scrambled to adjust to Trump’s global tariffs, preparing to increase prices to ASIC miners, electrical gear, network infrastructure and more.
“It’s a complete scramble,” Luxor Coo Ethan Vera said last week Mining pod News roundup. “From the ASIC Trading Front and Brokerage, the miners have not been very active here. They do not have to be frontrun orders and get it to the US … They run for a week here to ensure that all shipments coming out of SE Asia are taken and delivered.”
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ASIC prices have slightly collapsed in the past year, according to data from Hashrate index’s asic price index. A new-Gen model, such as the S21, currently runs miners by nearly $ 3,400.
Working on Overtime to pull ASIC orders before these tariffs are due to do on April 9, top companies charter flights to 2-4x the usual rate, anywhere from $ 2-3.5 million per flight according to estimates given to Blockspace From Synteq Digital CEO Taras Kulyk and Luxor’s Vera.
But the initial panic is in response to today that outdated tariff policy. Prior to the 90-day pause of Wednesday all except Chinese tariffs, the Trump administration suggested blanket tariffs in more than 180 countries, including 24% in Malaysia, 36% in Thailand, and 32% in Indonesia-three countries that mainly make computers ASIC Mining with the Business Business Minimin.
Following the 90-day grace period, the Trump administration plans to reduce reward tariffs at a flat rate of 10% for all affected countries. So scrambling seems a bit pointless. Or maybe not – the administration’s trading policies are so ugly, so anyone can guess if the 10% rate stands.
Even at 10%, tariffs are sufficient material that they can prevent efforts to deploy hashrate to the US, the dominant market currently approximately 35-40% of the bitcoin hashrate. As standing, it is likely that tariffs are noticeable that the hashrate of Bitcoin has slowed down this year compared to previous expectations.
Blockspace estimates that US Bitcoin miners imports more than $ 2.3 billion worth of ASIC miners last year and over $ 860 million in Q1, starting in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, the leading manufacturers of such machines.
The original Suggested Tariff of Reward
Bitmain and MicRont, which collective corners of the 90%-Plus of the ASIC Miner market, moved their ASIC manufacturing capacity outside China to Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia in response to Trump’s China tariffs in his first term. MicRont opened a US conference plant in 2023, and Kulyk said Bitmain opened the first US meeting line in January. However, these plants represent a small portion of any of the total production of the manufacturer.
Kulyk said “US production will have a material discount” compared to that imported hardware. But they will still suffer from tariffs on raw material such as aluminum, electronic components for control boards and more. So the Asics made in America will be more expensive than before the tariffs were introduced, especially if the 125% tariffs on Chinese goods were suggested.
Vera said the Chinese electrical components were set for a 50% or more tariff (and could be subject to almost 125% based on an updated rate from Trump management). This will affect all from the ASIC Miner prices to de -electrical infrastructure in the mines themselves.
While tariffs are increasing the cost of imported ASIC miners and other mining equipment, so all are equally equal, any existing US facilities should be more important. However, US miners looking to expand can find hiring an easier route than importing equipment. Accordingly, Kulyk hopes that tariffs will provide integration and deals, explaining that “suddenly these miners have older gear that look like zombies who really look interesting to take opportunities.”
“A big blow” for the American Bitcoin mining sector
Kulyk said that there is currently “no buyer” in the second market as they wait to see where the chips are falling.
In the medium term, tariffs will not be questionable as a “big blow” in the US Bitcoin mining sector, that is “definitely going to avoid the industry if these tariffs continue,” Vera said.
“If you pay more for a machine than your competitor in Canada or Russia, it would be difficult to compete with international miners.”
“Canada, from an economic perspective, will definitely be a more interesting place to do business. Corporate taxes are finished to reduce. Taxes that get taxed taxes to reduce. Lots of air in the sale of Canadian economic growth, especially on the data center,” Kulyk said.
Mark Carney, the Liberal Party frontrunner in the Canadian election, supports the Canadian bolstering data center and energy industry. But Canadian provinces such as Ontario and Quebec have moratoriums in new electricity applications for Bitcoin miners, so doubts remain about Canada’s attractiveness to miners as an alternative to US
Kulyk believes that North Europe can also scout for the expansion of the hashrate, while Vera says miners can find some gigawatts of opportunity in South America and parts of Africa as well.
But growth is limited if miners cannot tap into the US, which has led to the global growth of the hashrate since the 2021 Bitcoin mining ban. Vera believes that the impact of bitcoin mining tariffs will be as similar as the ban on China’s mining, and that hashrate will move away from the US in other countries. Tariffs can also cost asics in other markets, as international miners will not compete with the largest consumers, US miners, for allocation.
“In terms of geopolitical effects, it may be relevant to think about it as consistent with China’s ban,” Vera said. “Benefits will be international miners, which are likely to access machines at a cheaper cost now because they are not competing with many needs from the US”
“You can make the case that the network hashrate will continue its upbringing … But the US has become a big part of its growth as a force … there is no power to go around,” Vera concluded.
