- Datavault AI shares plunged nearly 50% on Tuesday after a filing showed the company has been unable to withdraw bitcoin from crypto exchange Biconomy since June and will have to restate its financial results. The stock closed at $0.067, down 49.55%, with roughly 244 million shares traded.
- The problem traces back to a September 2025 deal in which Scilex Holding agreed to buy $150 million of Datavault shares and warrants using bitcoin. Scilex credited 1,309.04 BTC to Datavault’s Biconomy account through off-chain transfers, and Datavault later sold 491.4 BTC back to Scilex for about $40.5 million, leaving roughly 817.6 BTC on the exchange (Lumida calculation).
- Biconomy was also on the other side of the funding. Scilex’s June report says it sold $200 million of shares in its subsidiary Semnur to Biconomy for bitcoin, then used $150 million to buy Datavault securities.
- The restatement will reduce reported assets by $92.2 million at the end of 2025 and $49 million as of June 2026. Datavault had counted those bitcoin balances as money it could draw on to keep the business running and must now revisit that assessment.
What Happened?
Datavault disclosed in a Monday filing that a withdrawal request to an external account it made in June could not be completed and remained incomplete. Because Scilex’s bitcoin was credited through off-chain transfers, the balances changed only on Biconomy’s books rather than on Bitcoin’s blockchain. Datavault now says the bitcoin credited through Scilex’s investment should have been recorded as an amount Scilex owed for the shares, which reduces shareholders’ equity rather than appearing among its cryptocurrency assets. CoinDesk said Biconomy had not responded to questions about the withdrawal request.
Why It Matters?
The episode is a warning for the crowded field of public companies holding bitcoin on their balance sheets. Coins that sit on an exchange’s internal ledger, rather than in a wallet the company controls, are only as good as the exchange’s willingness and ability to release them. The circular structure, with Biconomy supplying the bitcoin that funded the investment and also holding it on its exchange, makes it hard for shareholders to verify what the company actually owns.
What’s Next?
Investors will watch for the restated filings, any response from Biconomy and whether Datavault can recover the remaining bitcoin. The company must also show how it will fund operations now that those balances no longer count as available cash. For the broader group of bitcoin treasury firms, the case could bring more scrutiny of where and how their coins are held.
Affected Tickers and Coins: DVLT, SCLX, BTC
Source: CoinDesk
