Marathon Eyes Majority Stake in French Data Firm
Marathon Digital Holdings may acquire a 64% stake in Exaion, a French data company, for $168 million, according to sources cited by Bloomberg. The move would represent a significant expansion into artificial intelligence and data center operations for the bitcoin mining company.
Strategic Shift Beyond Traditional Mining
Exaion, owned by EDF Pulse Ventures, specializes in developing and managing data centers, as well as offering cloud and AI infrastructure. Marathon�s prospective acquisition signals a pivot to AI inference services�a part of AI data processing with relatively lower overhead costs�rather than following industry peers like Core Scientific and Hut 8, which have targeted hyperscale cloud infrastructure.
The agreement reportedly allows Marathon to further increase its stake in Exaion to 75% for an additional $127 million. EDF would retain a minority interest under the deal terms.
Post-Halving Profitability and Business Expansion
The move comes as bitcoin miners seek new revenue streams following the fourth Bitcoin halving in April 2024, which reduced new supply and compressed mining rewards. Marathon has simultaneously adopted a Bitcoin treasury strategy and recently reported a notable year-on-year increase in adjusted EBITDA.
- In Q2 2024, Marathon reported earnings of $808.2 million.
- This marked a turnaround from a nearly $200 million net loss in the same quarter the prior year.
- The firm remains the largest bitcoin miner by market capitalization and is the second-largest publicly held corporate bitcoin holder after MicroStrategy.
Industry Context and Future Prospects
If approved, the Exaion acquisition would differentiate Marathon from competitors by expanding its presence in AI and cloud infrastructure. The company�s diversification strategy follows a broader industry pattern as miners seek to offset fluctuations in blockchain rewards with alternative business lines.
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