When the Chinese-origin company launched a cryptocurrency mining operation in Cheyenne, Wyoming, last year, Microsoft's team tha

When the Chinese-origin company launched a cryptocurrency mining operation in Cheyenne, Wyoming, last year, Microsoft’s team that assesses national security threats sounded the alarm. Not only was the facility adjacent to a Microsoft data center that the Pentagon supported, but it was also just a kilometer from Warren Air Force Base, home of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile silos. The location could allow the Chinese to “conduct a full range of intelligence-gathering operations,“ Microsoft notes. Similar crypto-farms for mining Bitcoins in the interests of China have been found in at least 12 states, including Arkansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. Collectively, they consume as much energy as 1.5 million homes. At full capacity, the farm in Cheyenne, Wyoming alone would require enough electricity to power 55,000 homes. Cryptocurrency mining was banned in China for reasons of economic security of the state. /The New York Times/ Источник: Slavyangrad