EDF delivers its nuclear surpluses to an American bitcoin miner

France is quietly preparing to hand over its surplus nuclear energy to an American while French miners have been waiting for years.

The Exaion case

Sometimes there are cases that look like betrayal. For example, the Alstom case and the controversial sale of its energy branch to the American giant General Electric.

Fortunately, EDF has since repurchased this industrial flagship and its famous “Arabelle” turbines. Their maintenance and production for the next six EPR nuclear reactors is now secured. However, any export (notably to the Russian Rosatom) will henceforth require the American green light…

But let’s move on, the new scandal is called Exaion, an EDF subsidiary about to be swallowed by the largest American bitcoin miner: Marathon. French miner Sébastien Gouspillou protested on Le FigaroTV . For him, EDF is abandoning its surplus nuclear energy disregarding national interests:

By repurchasing the subsidiary Exaion, Marathon positions itself to recover the huge mining potential that France still refuses to exploit. It is obvious that Marathon is coming to mine bitcoins. […] EDF is currently offering the exclusivity of French mining (8 GW) to the United States.

Sébastien Gouspillou, co-founder of BigBlock.

There are similarities here with the Alcatel case, another French flagship delivered to the American competitor Lucent. This led to the loss of fiber optic patents, not to mention the pass for the NSA within French telecommunications infrastructures…

The Trojan horse Exaion

Marathon filed its application in early September with the General Directorate of the Treasury. The Minister of Economy now has one month to trigger an in-depth review phase of the file.

The National Bitcoin Institute has shown hostility to this acquisition in an open letter addressed to deputies, calling it “a major issue of energy, digital and financial sovereignty”.

We learn that despite media announcements mentioning 170 million euros, EDF will actually receive only 29 million euros. Barely more than the 25 million euros invested. The rest corresponds to capital contributions, not a gain for EDF.

According to Mr. Gouspillou, this 170 million euros will primarily be used to mine bitcoins, the announcements regarding AI and the Cloud being just a smokescreen.

Such a sum would allow Marathon to grab 1.50% of the world’s mining power. Enough to produce seven bitcoins per day. A missed great opportunity according to the National Bitcoin Institute:

The multiplication of electricity surpluses creates an opportunity: absorbing surpluses when prices drop and returning power to the grid in case of tension. We could thus better valorize the kWh financed by the taxpayer.

National Bitcoin Institute

Make no mistake, the bitcoin industry is the missing link of the energy transition. It can consume nuclear electricity surpluses and unplug on demand if necessary. Far from being a simple energy consumer, bitcoin allows an adjustment by demand that is very valuable.

Environmentalists are mistaken about bitcoin

Yes, Bitcoin consumes a lot of electricity, but we cannot stop at this simple fact and close the hatches.

It will not have escaped the greens that balancing the electrical grid by demand is essential to accommodate at lower cost the rise of renewable energies and the headache they represent for grid managers.

Damaging nuclear plants by constantly modulating their electricity production to compensate for wind intermittency is untenable. What a waste, especially at a time when tens of billions are sought to build six new reactors.

On the contrary, reactors should be allowed to operate as planned and mine bitcoins. We would preserve our nuclear heritage while strengthening EDF’s finances.

Bitcoin miners have the great advantage of being able to stop in the snap of a finger. In other words, there is no longer a need for costly gas peaking plants or to draw on the hydraulic reserves of dams. This symbiosis with energy producers already exists in Texas.

It works so well that the local grid operator (ERCOT) recently canceled the construction of several gas plants. They are no longer necessary since miners can return more than 3 GW at any time, without time constraints.

Initial reluctance from ecological parties is understandable, but an impartial analysis of the situation must now be made to avoid risking a fiasco.

Bitcoin, the next global reserve currency

France is truly a pioneer of bitcoin. Ledger is, for example, the world leader in hardware wallets. Phoenix is also a leader in its field (Lightning wallet). And the fact is that we could build the world’s first mining industry if there was political will.

Instead, we let the great powers share the pie. North America (~45%), Russia (~17%) and China (~15%) benefit and several public energy companies are already at work. This is the case in Japan, El Salvador, Laos, Kyrgyzstan , Ethiopia, Bhutan, Iran as well as the United Arab Emirates.

Why so much hesitation on the old continent? Have we forgotten that nothing stops an idea whose time has come?

Let us realize that the United States is about to make bitcoin their reserve currency! Believing, like Christine Lagarde, that the euro can become the first international reserve currency is a risky bet. Especially after freezing 300 billion euros belonging to Russia.

Conversely, bitcoin is a stateless currency/store of value as well as a non-censorable payment system. Two in one. This is the direction the world is going now that the BRICS lead the revolt against the dollar.

Like the United States (~200,000 BTC), France could create its own strategic reserve of bitcoins thanks to its nuclear energy surpluses. And if we did not leave only debt to future generations…

Read our article: The United States all-in on Bitcoin.