Bitcoin mining giant MARA Holdings has completed its acquisition of a controlling 64% stake in French computing infrastructure operator Exaion, marking a significant expansion into artificial intelligence and cloud services as the mining industry continues its pivot toward data center revenue.
The deal, originally announced in August 2025 with EDF Pulse Ventures, received all necessary regulatory approvals and closed on Friday, MARA said in an official announcement. The acquisition gives MARA France majority control of Exaion while French energy giant EDF retains a minority shareholding and will continue as a customer of the business.
As part of the partnership, NJJ Capital, the investment vehicle of telecom entrepreneur Xavier Niel, will acquire a 10% stake in MARA France. The structure creates a three-way alliance between MARA, EDF and Niel’s investment group, positioning the combined entity to compete in Europe’s growing AI infrastructure market.
Exaion’s board of directors will reflect the new ownership arrangement. Three representatives from MARA, three from EDF Pulse Ventures and one from NJJ will serve alongside Exaion’s chief executive and co-founder. Both Xavier Niel and MARA CEO Fred Thiel will hold board seats, according to the announcement.
The acquisition represents MARA’s latest move to diversify revenue streams beyond traditional Bitcoin mining operations. MARA shares have declined 17% year-to-date as the company navigates challenging mining economics and pursues its hybrid strategy combining cryptocurrency mining with AI and high-performance computing services.
Bitcoin mining companies have increasingly turned to AI and data center computing as pressure on mining economics intensifies. The April 2024 halving event cut block rewards in half, while rising network difficulty has squeezed profit margins across the industry. Several publicly traded miners have adopted hybrid business models, maintaining mining operations for cash flow while building more predictable revenue from AI cloud and computing services.
HIVE Digital Technologies has demonstrated the viability of this approach, reporting strong financial results during periods of weak Bitcoin prices by leveraging expanding AI operations. CoreWeave has also successfully transitioned from cryptocurrency mining to become a major AI infrastructure provider after demand for GPU mining declined.
Other mining firms including TeraWulf, Hut 8 and IREN are similarly repurposing mining facilities and energy capacity for AI data center operations. In November 2025, CleanSpark announced plans to raise approximately $1.13 billion in net proceeds through a $1.15 billion senior convertible note offering to fund expansion of both Bitcoin mining and data center infrastructure.
The strategic shift comes as Bitcoin miners face mounting operational challenges. Bitcoin’s mining difficulty rose approximately 15% to 144.4 trillion on Friday, reversing an 11% decline earlier in the month. That earlier drop marked the steepest decline since China’s 2021 mining ban and followed severe winter storms across the United States that disrupted power grids and temporarily forced many miners offline.
The difficulty increase, while reinforcing Bitcoin’s network security, raises the computational effort required to mine new blocks. This adds further margin pressure on operators already dealing with elevated energy costs and capital expenditure requirements.
Analysis shows that Bitcoin miners are increasingly targeting 30 gigawatts of AI computing capacity to offset declining profitability from cryptocurrency mining alone. A pivot toward AI infrastructure will allow mining companies to partner with energy providers and expertise in operating high-performance computing facilities at scale.
MARA’s acquisition of Exaion provides the company with established operations in Europe and access to France’s energy infrastructure through the continued partnership with EDF. The deal also brings strategic value through the involvement of Xavier Niel, whose telecommunications background and European market presence could facilitate expansion across the continent.
The transaction follows a broader trend of convergence between cryptocurrency mining and AI infrastructure. As artificial intelligence applications demand increasing amounts of computing power, former mining facilities with existing power capacity and cooling infrastructure have become attractive targets for conversion to AI data centers.
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