Catenaa, Saturday, December 27, 2025-Northern Data, the German AI and data center company majority-owned by Tether, sold its bitcoin mining subsidiary Peak Mining for up to $200 million to entities controlled by Tether executives.
The acquisition involves Highland Group Mining Inc., Appalachian Energy LLC, and 2750418 Alberta ULC, all linked to Tether leadership.
Highland Group Mining is registered in the British Virgin Islands under Giancarlo Devasini, Tether’s co-founder and chairman, and CEO Paolo Ardoino.
Alberta ULC lists Devasini as sole director, while Appalachian Energy’s ownership remains unclear. Northern Data announced the sale in November without disclosing the buyers.
The transaction follows a failed August agreement to sell Peak Mining to Elektron Energy, another Devasini-controlled entity, for $235 million.
The finalized sale reflects a lower valuation of $200 million.
The timing coincides with Rumble, a conservative video platform partly owned by Tether, signing a $767 million acquisition deal for Northern Data. Tether has also committed $150 million in GPU services and $100 million in advertising to Rumble under the agreement.
Northern Data faces regulatory scrutiny in Europe over alleged VAT fraud exceeding €100 million. The company denies wrongdoing, citing misunderstandings of tax treatment related to GPU cloud services and prior crypto mining operations.
A 2024 US lawsuit alleging insolvency and tax evasion was voluntarily dismissed, with Northern Data denying whistleblowing retaliation.
Tether has invested over $2 billion in mining infrastructure across Latin America, aiming to become the largest bitcoin miner by 2025. S&P Global Ratings recently downgraded Tether’s USDT stability assessment, warning that bitcoin holdings may exceed reserve buffers, raising potential collateral risks.
