By the end of the year, Bitcoin (BTC) mining giant MARA Holding is expected to acquire a 64% stake in EDF subsidiary Exaion. We take a closer look at this historic deal, which could, however, signal a certain loss of sovereignty.
MARA Holding to acquire 64% of Exaion, EDF’s subsidiary
On Monday, EDF and MARA Holdings made a major announcement regarding a massive investment by the Bitcoin (BTC) mining giant in Exaion.
As a reminder, Exaion is registered as a digital asset service provider (DASP) and provides cloud services. More specifically, the company is known for operating several validation nodes on Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchains such as Tezos (XTZ) and Chiliz (CHZ).
Specifically, this agreement involves a $168 million investment, which would allow MARA to acquire a 64% stake in Exaion by the fourth quarter of this year. Provided certain objectives are met, an additional $127 million could be invested to increase that stake to 75%.
Fred Thiel, CEO of MARA, expressed his enthusiasm regarding this partnership:
Our partnership with Exaion would bring together two global leaders in data center development and digital energy. As data protection and energy efficiency become top priorities for governments and businesses, the combined expertise of MARA and Exaion would enable us to provide secure and scalable cloud solutions designed for the future of AI.
For Julien Villeret, EDF’s Chief Innovation Officer, the completion of this agreement would mark the beginning of a new chapter:
Since its creation in 2020, EDF Pulse Ventures has supported Exaion’s growth and the development of its cutting-edge digital technologies. This transaction would mark a new chapter, as Exaion would join forces with an experienced global technology partner while maintaining a collaborative relationship with the EDF Group. This would be a major opportunity for Exaion to accelerate its technological and international development.
With this investment, MARA intends to expand its international operations in the areas of infrastructure dedicated to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC) data centers.
Although this still needs to be verified and should be viewed with caution, the announcement suggests Bitcoin mining for this long-standing EDF subsidiary.
However, questions may also arise regarding the loss of sovereignty. While MARA’s expertise is likely to enable Exaion to take its operations to the next level, the governance of this French leader will come under American control by the end of the year if the deal is finalized.
To date, MARA Holding deploys 58.9 EH/s of computing power worldwide and holds 50,639 bitcoins in reserve. On the stock market, the company has a market capitalization of $5.8 billion, with a share price of $15.66.
