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Inside France’s strict conditions for selling $168 million stake of its state-owned energy cloud to U.S. bitcoin miner

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Inside France’s strict conditions for selling $168 million stake of its state-owned energy cloud to U.S. bitcoin miner

France has approved the sale of a majority stake in a key data center unit of state-owned Electricité de France (EDF) to U.S.-based bitcoin miner MARA Holdings Inc., after months of national security review.

MARA, headquartered in Florida, is acquiring a 64% stake in Exaion, a subsidiary that operates high-performance computing infrastructure for digital workloads. The deal, first announced in August 2025, is valued at $168 million.

The transaction raised concerns in Paris about potential foreign control over digital infrastructure. In response, the French government imposed conditions before signing off.

NJJ Capital, an investment firm controlled by telecom billionaire Xavier Niel, will take a 10% stake in Mara France, the local entity handling the acquisition, in exchange for a requirement that a French investor step in. EDF will keep a minority stake and continue as a client of Exaion.

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Finance Minister Roland Lescure called the outcome a sign that France remains open to international investment while still defending its strategic interests.

“In this operation, the State is advancing on two fronts: we are confirming France’s attractiveness for international investment, while ensuring uncompromising protection of our strategic interests and our technological sovereignty,” the Minister said. A government statement added that no sensitive EDF data will remain with Exaion following the sale.

Exaion’s board of directors will now include representatives from MARA, EDF, and NJJ.

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How Much Ethereum (ETH) Does He Actually Own?

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How Much Ethereum (ETH) Does He Actually Own?


Data from Arkham shows the majority of Buterin’s wealth remains tied directly to token price swings rather than diversified holdings.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin holds more than 240,000 ETH, currently valued at approximately $467 million, according to blockchain intelligence platform Arkham’s investigation into his on-chain holdings.

The analysis established Buterin as the largest accessible individual holder of Ethereum, though institutional players and exchange wallets dominate the top rankings of ETH ownership.

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Buterin’s Portfolio Composition and Recent Transactions

The Arkham investigation, published on February 17, provided a detailed breakdown of Buterin’s known crypto assets. His Ethereum holdings have gradually declined over the years, from 662,810 ETH in December 2015, which represented 0.91% of the total supply, to the current 240,010 ETH, which now accounts for about 0.20% of all ETH in circulation.

This reduction stems from both periodic sales and the network’s inflationary supply increases over time. Beyond ETH, Buterin holds smaller positions in several tokens, including 10 billion WHITE worth about $1.16 million, 30 billion MOODENG tokens valued at about $442,000, and 869,509 KNC tokens.

His portfolio also includes roughly $11,000 in Tornado Cash’s TORN token, reflecting past usage of the privacy mixer for donations, including funds sent to Ukraine. Recent on-chain activity shows Buterin moving significant sums in alignment with his public commitments, including a 16,384 ETH withdrawal in late January 2026, worth around $43 million at current prices, to support open-source infrastructure development.

This followed his announcement that the Ethereum Foundation is entering a period of “mild austerity,” with Buterin personally assuming funding responsibilities for certain projects to ensure the Foundation’s long-term sustainability. Subsequent sales of around 2,961 ETH over three days in early February, valued at about $6.6 million, were routed through CoW Protocol using small swaps to minimize market impact.

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Arkham’s assessment of the broader Ethereum holder landscape revealed that institutions and exchanges occupy the top positions. For instance, the ETH2 beacon deposit contract holds over 60% of the total supply, with Binance, BlackRock, and Coinbase ranking among the largest entities.

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Notably, the single largest individual holder is Rain Lohmus, who possesses 250,000 ETH worth $786 million. However, these funds are inaccessible due to lost private keys, a situation Lohmus acknowledged publicly in 2023.

Wealth Trajectory and Philanthropic Focus

Buterin’s net worth has followed Ethereum’s volatile price history closely, given that ETH constitutes over 99% of his known portfolio. He briefly achieved billionaire status in 2021 when the token crossed $3,000, with his holdings peaking at $2.09 billion in November of that year.

Nonetheless, the subsequent bear market reduced his wealth by close to 75% by December 2022. In 2025, rising ETH prices again pushed his net worth above $1 billion during August’s all-time high near $5,000, though recent market corrections, which pushed ETH below $2,000, have brought valuations back to current levels.

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His wealth originated primarily from the 2014 Ethereum pre-sale, where 16.53% of the initial 72 million ETH supply was allocated to founders. A $100,000 Thiel Fellowship grant that same year allowed Buterin to leave the University of Waterloo and dedicate himself fully to Ethereum development.

Unlike many crypto founders who have accumulated substantial stakes in centralized companies, Buterin’s wealth remains almost entirely liquid and tied directly to the network he helped create.

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Trump’s Tariff Announcement Met With a Torrent of Criticism

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US Government, United States, Donald Trump

The tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump and the 10% global tariff announced by Trump on Friday have drawn critical reactions from US lawmakers, Washington, DC-based think tanks and attorneys. 

US Senator Rand Paul said that the Trump tariffs are a tax increase on “working families and small businesses,” characterizing them as a net negative on the economy.

“Those tariffs weren’t about security — they were a tax on families and small businesses to bankroll a reckless trade war,” US Congressperson Ro Khanna said

US Government, United States, Donald Trump
Source: Rep. Ro Khanna

On Friday, the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) struck down Trump’s authority to levy tariffs under the IEEPA, which Trump responded to by announcing new 10% global tariffs.

Scott Lincicome, Vice President of Cato’s Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, a Washington DC-based think tank, was also critical of the tariffs. In comments shared with Cointelegraph, he said:

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“Even without IEEPA, other US laws and the Trump administration’s repeated promises all but ensure that much higher tariffs will remain the norm, damaging the economy and foreign relations in the process.”

Trump’s tariffs typically had a negative impact on crypto markets and other risk-on assets. However, crypto prices stayed relatively stable amid the most recent round of tariffs, with Bitcoin’s (BTC) price rising by about 3% after the announcement.  

US Government, United States, Donald Trump
The Total3 indicator, which tracks the market cap of the entire crypto market, excluding Bitcoin and Ether, barely moved following the tariff announcement. Source: TradingView

Related: Bitcoin ignores US Supreme Court Trump tariff strike amid talk of $150B refund

Trump announces an additional 10% tariff, but pro-crypto attorney says legal scope is limited

“Effective immediately, all national security tariffs, Section 232, and existing Section 301 tariffs, remain in place, and in full force and effect. Today, I will sign an order to impose a 10% global tariff,” Trump announced on Friday.

US Government, United States, Donald Trump
President Trump announces a 10% global tariff. Source: The White House

The new 10% global tariff will be imposed on top of already existing tariff rates, Trump added. However, the legal statutes Trump cited are limited in scope, according to pro-crypto attorney Adam Cochran.

“The law he is using only allows this to be on countries we have a deficit with, for a set period of 150 days, and at a capped percent,” he said.

Magazine: Harris’ unrealized gains tax could ‘tank markets’: Nansen’s Alex Svanevik, X Hall of Flame

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