Welp the chickens have come home to roost! Having miners hosted outside of the USA ended up not being a good idea. Thanks to the CBP crack down and holding miners hostage at the border a few of my miners are now caught in this quagmire.
Compass Mining sent me this email today:
Dear Customer,
We are writing to inform you that our hosting contract at the Ontario facility will conclude on April 1st, 2025. We have started winding down our operations at the site in preparation for this. We want to provide you with critical updates regarding the relocation process - including potential risks that could impact the timeline and alternative options for customers to consider as a result of these risks.
Customs & Border Risks That May Affect Relocation Timelines
While we typically have an anticipated relocation schedule, recent reports indicate
that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has increased scrutiny on bitcoin mining equipment imports, leading to seizures of shipments. Articles from Bloomberg and Blockspace Media have highlighted multiple cases where miners have been detained at the border, citing compliance concerns.Given the circumstances, there is a real possibility that any miner imported into the U.S. may be held in detention for an undetermined amount of time by the CBP.
If CBP detains your miner, you will be fully responsible for any and all liabilities, including storage costs, legal fees, import duties, or potential forfeiture of the unit.Compass Mining cannot intervene or guarantee the release of any miner held by the CBP. If you choose to ship your miner to a U.S. address, you will be required to sign a liability waiver acknowledging that all risks, costs, and losses associated with customs delays or seizures will be solely your responsibility.
Planned Relocation Process & Timeline
The relocation process will begin in the third week of March and will include de-racking, transportation, cleaning, testing, and re-racking at a new facility.
Unless detained by the CBP, the relocation is expected to take 9-12 weeks, but it could take slightly longer if repairs are required.We expect relocated miners to start coming back online at another Compass facility in July 2025. Compass Mining will not be responsible for any fees associated with detainment.We understand that the downtime associated with this relocation and any potential delays caused by the CBP is a disruption to your mining operation; therefore,
We want to provide you with options on how you would like to proceed:
Special Relocation upgrade offer to a new S21 Hydro:We understand that miner efficiency is critical to your mining operations post-halving, and we want to provide you with upgrade pathways to the latest generation Antminer S21 Hydro miners boasting best-in-class efficiency of 16.5 W/TH or lower. You can terminate the hosting contract on your current unit and trade in your miner to receive an upgrade discount. For example, a healthy S19j Pro unit part of this relocation will be eligible for a $1,000 discount coupon toward a purchase of a new Antminer S21 Hydro. Your new S21 Hydro gen miner will be deployed immediately per the timelines stated on our Hardware Page.
Offer terms and conditions:
You can only apply one upgrade discount to each Antminer S21 Hydro unit purchase.The hosting deposit for your original miner is included in this offer and will not be refunded.
Customers must not have any outstanding invoices to select the trade-in/upgrade option.
The trade-in unit must be healthy and fully hashing based on internal review and confirmation by the Compass team. Offline units or units in need of repair may be eligible for a promotion discount at a reduced value.
The miner traded in for the upgrade may be upcycled, dismantled for spare parts, or, depending on its condition, used at Compass's discretion.
We encourage customers to choose carefully and consider upgrading to the latest generation S21 Hydro machines, which can significantly improve efficiency.
-
Swap your unit:Our new swap program is designed to offer our customers the ability to exchange their current offline unit for a similar unit currently hashing at another Compass facility at no additional cost. This option is designed for customers with offline units due to relocation or other factors. The swapped unit will match, as closely as possible, the model and hashing specification of the original customer unit. The customer will relinquish ownership of the original unit and become the sole owner of the swapped unit. This ensures continuity in the operations while minimizing downtime and disruption. Due to the aforementioned import issues at the border, customers may elect to take custody of a replacement miner from our inventory in the U.S. while supplies last. -
Take custody:You may choose to have your miner shipped to you by opting for early termination. Our logistics team will provide shipping quotes based on your desired destination. Customers opting to take custody of their miner will be responsible for the shipping cost and must not have any unpaid invoices associated with their account. Due to import issues at the border, customers may elect to take custody of a replacement miner from our inventory in the US, depending on availability. -
Retire your miner:You can retire this miner and forfeit the hosting deposit to opt for early termination. Depending on its condition, the miner will be upcycled, dismantled for spare parts, or otherwise used. -
Relocate to another Compass facility:Your miner will be redeployed at another Compass site in the US. As stated previously, we expect relocated miners to start coming back online in July 2025 unless detained by the CBP.
Please note the following if option 3 or 5 is chosen:
Any miner shipped to the US is subject to CBP import inspections and potential seizure risks
If detained, you will be responsible for any associated CBP storage costs and must handle the customs process directlyTo select either option 3 or 5, you must sign a liability waiver acknowledging the current risks involved with shipping mining hardware into the US.
We encourage you to carefully review the options, given the current regulatory environment.
If we do not hear from you by April 1st, 2025, your unit will be placed into temporary storage for up to 60 days. While we hope to have clarity from the CBP within that timeframe, we cannot guarantee a resolution. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Thank you for your understanding.
Sincerely,
The Compass Mining team
My Thoughts ðŸ’
Think I’m going to go with option 2. Over the years it been a lot of headwinds dealing with them. One might ask why even bother? Well it’s simple for me they are a bitcoin business and they are offering mining services plus I think having a miner is in 2025 is like having. Bunch of real estate rentals for passive income plus you can get access to to fresh utxos with zero history. The virgin utxos straight from the coinbase transaction. While this is pain I plan on continuing using compass mining until they go bust or I do.