MARA Holdings has finalized its acquisition of a majority stake in French computing infrastructure provider Exaion, strengthening its expansion into artificial intelligence and cloud services.
The agreement, initially reached in August 2025 with EDF Pulse Ventures, grants MARA France a 64% ownership stake in Exaion following the completion of required regulatory approvals, the company announced Friday. French energy major EDF will retain a minority stake and remain a customer of the business.
The transaction also establishes a broader strategic partnership. NJJ Capital, the investment vehicle of telecom entrepreneur Xavier Niel, will acquire a 10% stake in MARA France as part of the collaboration with MARA.
Governance at Exaion will be reshaped to reflect its new ownership. The board will include three representatives from MARA Holdings, three from EDF Pulse Ventures and one from NJJ Capital, in addition to Exaion’s chief executive and co-founder. NJJ founder Xavier Niel and MARA CEO Fred Thiel will also hold board seats.
Bitcoin miners pivot to AI amid pressure
Bitcoin mining firms are increasingly diversifying into AI and data center computing as mining economics tighten. Following the 2024 halving, which reduced block rewards, and amid rising network difficulty, margins have come under strain. In response, several publicly listed miners have adopted hybrid strategies — maintaining mining for cash flow while building more stable revenue streams from AI cloud and high-performance computing services.
HIVE Digital Technologies is one example, reporting resilient performance even during periods of weaker Bitcoin prices thanks to expanding AI operations. Meanwhile, CoreWeave transitioned from crypto mining to become a major AI infrastructure provider after demand for GPU mining declined.
Other companies, including TeraWulf, Hut 8, IREN and MARA, are also converting mining facilities and energy capacity into AI-focused data centers.
In November, CleanSpark unveiled plans to raise approximately $1.13 billion in net proceeds — potentially up to $1.28 billion if additional notes are purchased — through a $1.15 billion senior convertible note offering to expand both its Bitcoin mining and data center operations.
Bitcoin mining difficulty jumps 15%
At the same time, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty climbed roughly 15% to 144.4 trillion on Friday, reversing an 11% decline earlier in the month — the sharpest drop since China’s 2021 mining ban. That earlier decrease followed severe winter storms across the United States that disrupted power grids and temporarily forced many miners offline, reducing overall hash rate.
While higher mining difficulty strengthens Bitcoin’s network security, it also increases the computational effort required to produce new blocks, adding further pressure to operators already facing elevated costs.
