Bitcoin miner deepens diversification as mining difficulty climbs and AI demand surges
MARA Holdings has signed a $168 million agreement to acquire a 64% stake in Exaion, a high-performance computing (HPC) and AI infrastructure provider owned by French state energy giant Électricité de France. The deal marks MARA’s largest move into artificial intelligence and cloud services to date.
Under the terms, MARA has the option to increase its stake to 75% by 2027 with an additional $127 million investment, subject to Exaion meeting specific performance milestones.
Exaion operates HPC data centers and provides AI and cloud infrastructure services in collaboration with industry leaders such as Nvidia and Deloitte. The acquisition is expected to accelerate Exaion’s international expansion to serve both enterprise and public-sector clients.
“As data protection and energy efficiency become top priorities for both governments and enterprises, MARA and Exaion’s combined expertise would enable us to deliver secure and scalable cloud solutions built for the future of AI,” said Fred Thiel, MARA’s chairman and CEO.
The transaction is anticipated to close in Q4 2025, pending regulatory approvals.
The move comes as Bitcoin mining difficulty reaches record highs, increasing energy requirements and squeezing miner profit margins. While competitors have already ventured into AI and HPC, MARA has been slower to diversify, opting to invest in a partner with an established track record rather than retrofitting its mining operations.
“Rather than trying to retrofit mining facilities, we’re investing in a partner who already has the expertise, customer base, and credibility,” Thiel noted.
In July, MARA mined 703 Bitcoin, trailing competitor IREN, which posted a company record of 728 BTC. Despite the production dip, MARA’s Q2 revenue rose 64% year-on-year to $238 million, and the company still holds 50,000 Bitcoin worth nearly $6 billion, making it the second-largest Bitcoin treasury after Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy.
With the Exaion acquisition, MARA is positioning itself at the intersection of blockchain, AI, and high-performance computing — sectors expected to see significant growth as digital infrastructure demands rise globally.
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