Bitcoin Treasury Company Rumble Eyes $1.17 Billion Acquisition of Tether-Owned AI Firm

YouTube rival and Bitcoin treasury Rumble wants to boost its global AI cloud capabilities by acquiring Germany’s Northern Data. 

Rumble said Monday that it has proposed a deal to gain control of Northern Data’s cloud business, Taiga, and its large-scale data center arm, Ardent, in a $1.17 billion all-stock transaction.

Northern Data—which stablecoin issuer Tether has a controlling stake in—said Monday that it would sell its crypto mining business, Peak Mining, to private Bitcoin miner Elektron Energy in a separate deal for $235 million. 

Tether supports Rumble’s acquisition plans, the streaming platform said in an announcement.

“Following consummation of the potential transaction, Tether would become an important customer of Rumble, with a multi-year commitment to purchase GPUs,” Rumble said in a statement.

Stablecoin issuer Tether last year said that it would invest $775 million in Rumble’s platform, starting with a $250 million cash plug. 

The El Salvador-based Tether works to mint USDT, the fourth-biggest cryptocurrency by market cap. USDT is a stablecoin pegged to and backed by the U.S. dollar, and it’s considered a key part of the crypto ecosystem.

Rumble is a Canadian company that allows users to stream and post videos. It competes with YouTube, and trades on the Nasdaq as RUM. 

The platform differentiates itself by supporting free speech, and has been popular with American conservative creators and conspiracy theorists alike.

Rumble last year started putting Bitcoin on its balance sheet, and now holds 210.8 BTC worth over $25 million at today’s prices. 

RUM finished the trading day up about 3% Monday, but remains down about 34% since the start of the year.