Party for Socialism and Liberation blocks $24B in US data center projects

While tech giants and crypto miners race to build out the physical backbone of the digital economy, a political organization most Americans have never heard of has been methodically pulling the plug. The Party for Socialism and Liberation, a Marxist-Leninist group with ties to financier Neville Roy Singham, has blocked or delayed roughly $23.6 billion in data center projects across 14 states.

The damage report

The numbers come from a Bitcoin Policy Institute report dated June 30, 2026, which traced PSL’s fingerprints across a sprawling map of canceled, delayed, and permanently banned data center developments.

The biggest casualty: a $12 billion hyperscale data center project in DeForest, Wisconsin, which was blocked outright. A $5 billion facility planned for Prince George’s County, Maryland, saw its permitting process ground to a halt after PSL-led campaigns mobilized local opposition. And in Monterey Park, California, the city enacted a permanent ban on data centers, effectively closing the door on any future development in the area.

The BPI report documents PSL involvement, whether directly leading campaigns or participating in broader coalitions, across more than a dozen states. In Durham, North Carolina, PSL Triangle supported a petition seeking a 32-month moratorium on both data centers and crypto mining operations.

Who is behind the curtain

The PSL isn’t exactly a household name in American politics. Founded in 2004 as a breakaway from the Workers World Party, it describes itself as a revolutionary socialist organization. The organization’s network has drawn scrutiny for its connections to Neville Roy Singham, a tech entrepreneur turned political activist whose organizations have faced questions about foreign ties. Singham made his fortune in the tech consulting world before pivoting to political advocacy, and his financial network has been closely linked to PSL’s operations.

The playbook is straightforward and, frankly, effective. PSL organizers embed themselves in local communities where data center projects are proposed. They build coalitions around environmental concerns, water usage, noise pollution, and energy consumption. They pack city council meetings. They circulate petitions. They frame multinational tech companies as extractive forces exploiting local resources for corporate profit.

What this means for crypto and AI investors

For Bitcoin miners specifically, reduced data center capacity translates to higher operational costs. When fewer facilities are available, competition for existing space intensifies, lease rates climb, and the economics of mining get squeezed.

The Durham moratorium petition is particularly worth watching. If a 32-month ban on both data centers and crypto mining gains traction as a template, other municipalities could adopt similar measures, representing a shift from project-by-project opposition to blanket regulatory barriers.

For investors evaluating crypto mining stocks, AI infrastructure REITs, or any company dependent on US data center expansion, the PSL’s campaign introduces a risk factor that doesn’t show up in standard financial models. Sociopolitical opposition at the local level has become a material constraint on capital deployment.

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