This article is from Theminermag, a trade publication for the cryptocurrency mining industry, focusing on the latest news and research on institutional bitcoin mining companies.
According to a Friday report by the Financial Times, Northern Data said in November that it had agreed to sell Peak Mining for up to $200 million as part of a broader effort to exit bitcoin mining and focus on artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
Subsequent U.S. regulatory filings identified the buyers as Highland Group Mining Inc., Appalachian Energy LLC and 2750418 Alberta ULC.
Corporate filings reviewed by the Financial Times show that Highland Group Mining is directed by Giancarlo Devasini, a co-founder and chair of Tether, alongside Tether chief executive Paolo Ardoino. The Alberta-based entity is solely directed by Devasini, while the ownership and management of Appalachian Energy, a Delaware-based company, remain unclear. The directorships had not been previously reported.
The transaction highlights how parts of Tether’s investment portfolio are being reshuffled internally, with assets sold to entities also controlled by its top executives. The Financial Times noted that this is not the first time Northern Data has attempted to sell Peak Mining to a Devasini-linked company. In August, the company disclosed a non-binding agreement to sell the unit to Elektron Energy for $235 million; Elektron’s director is also Devasini, according to British Virgin Islands filings.
The sale fits into Northern Data’s longer-running effort to shed its legacy bitcoin mining operations, a shift the company has framed as necessary to reposition itself as an AI-focused data center operator. The divestment has been closely watched, given Northern Data’s historical exposure to crypto mining and its growing entanglements with Tether’s broader investment network.
The Financial Times report also situates the transaction within a wider set of financial ties linking Tether, Northern Data and Rumble, a U.S.-based social media company in which Tether holds roughly a 48% stake. The Peak Mining sale was announced days before Rumble agreed to acquire Northern Data in a deal valued at about $767 million.
Tether has extended a €610 million loan to Northern Data and has separately agreed to a $100 million advertising deal and a $150 million GPU services agreement with Rumble, contingent on the completion of the acquisition. Under the proposed structure, half of Northern Data’s loan balance would be settled with Rumble shares, with the remainder refinanced through a new Tether loan to Rumble secured against Northern Data assets.
The Financial Times also reiterated that Northern Data remains under scrutiny from European prosecutors. In September, authorities in Germany and Sweden raided the company’s offices as part of an investigation into suspected large-scale VAT fraud, with potential damages estimated at more than €100 million. Northern Data has previously said it believes the investigation stems from a misunderstanding related to the tax treatment of its GPU cloud computing business and its former crypto mining operations, and that it is cooperating with authorities.
