Datavault AI shares closed down 49.55% on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, at $0.067, after the company said it could not withdraw bitcoin held on the Biconomy platform. The filing also reveals a major accounting correction: those bitcoin should never have been recorded as crypto assets owned by the company.
🔑 Key takeaways
- Roughly 244 million shares traded during the October 27 session, with the stock down 49.55%.
- Scilex credited 1,309.04 BTC to Datavault AI’s account at Biconomy, of which 491.4 BTC were resold for about $40.5 million in cash.
- About 817 BTC remain stuck on Biconomy, with no external transfer possible since June 2026.
- Financial statements to be corrected: assets reduced by $92.2 million as of December 31, 2025 and by $49 million as of June 30, 2026.
A withdrawal request that never cleared
Datavault AI, a listed company that presents itself as active in data and artificial intelligence, had included bitcoin in its treasury. According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday, October 26, 2026, the company sent a request in June 2026 to move the bitcoin from a Biconomy wallet to an external account. At the time of the filing, the request was still pending.
The access problem therefore lasted roughly four months between the initial request and the filing. The frozen balances had been counted as funds available to support ongoing operations.
A custody problem, not a market problem
The case highlights the difference between ownership, custody and availability. A balance shown on a platform’s books is not the same as bitcoin that can be transferred on the public blockchain. When a platform does not allow withdrawals, the asset exists in the ledger but not in practice for the company.
An off-chain deal funded by Scilex
The dispute traces back to a September 2025 agreement between Datavault AI and Scilex Holding Company. Under the deal, Scilex agreed to buy $150 million of Datavault AI shares and warrants using bitcoin. Scilex’s June financial report shows that it sold its subsidiary Semnur’s shares to Biconomy for $200 million in bitcoin, then used $150 million of those proceeds to acquire Datavault AI securities.
The transfers were made off-chain, meaning balances were changed inside the exchange platform without a corresponding transaction on the Bitcoin blockchain. Scilex credited 1,309.04 BTC to Datavault AI’s account at Biconomy. Datavault AI then sold 491.4 BTC back to Scilex for about $40.5 million in cash, an implied price of roughly $82,400 per bitcoin, consistent with the market level cited.
| Item | Amount | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| BTC credited to Datavault AI | 1,309.04 BTC | Off-chain transfers |
| BTC sold back to Scilex | 491.4 BTC | For about $40.5M in cash |
| BTC stuck on Biconomy | 817.64 BTC | No external withdrawal possible |
Ground News describes the remaining balance as about 817 BTC that are frozen or impossible to withdraw. The two figures are consistent, with the more precise one being 817.64 BTC, since it follows directly from the difference between credited and resold amounts.
An accounting correction that hits equity
The core issue goes beyond the inability to move the bitcoin. Datavault AI acknowledged that the bitcoin credited under Scilex’s investment should not have been recorded as a crypto asset held by the company. In its view, the correct entry would have been a receivable owed by Scilex for the shares acquired.
“The bitcoin credited under the Scilex investment should not have been recorded as a crypto asset held by the company.”
Datavault AI, SEC filing dated October 26, 2026 (summary)
This reclassification removes the bitcoin from crypto assets and, in turn, reduces shareholders’ equity. Total assets are lower by $92.2 million as of December 31, 2025 and by $49 million as of June 30, 2026. The company must now reassess how much of its treasury it considered genuinely available.
What the sources do not explain
The available sources do not identify the cause of the freeze. It can be described as an access difficulty, but nothing published shows whether it stems from a technical incident, a liquidity constraint, a regulatory review or a disagreement between Biconomy and Datavault AI. Biconomy has also not detailed how its off-chain transfers work or how the balances were secured.
CoinDesk contacted Biconomy about the withdrawal request. As of Wednesday, October 28, in Asian trading hours, the platform had not responded. Until it does, the exact nature of the freeze remains unverified.
An isolated stock reaction
Shareholders reacted immediately and harshly. The stock lost nearly half its value in a single session, closing at $0.067 on volume of about 244 million shares. Bitcoin itself showed no comparable move. According to Ground News, bitcoin traded near $80,823, and Robinhood’s tracking page shows price levels close to $80,000 over the same period.
This divergence suggests that DVLT’s decline reflects access and accounting issues specific to Datavault AI rather than a broad bitcoin sell-off. Some commentators place the episode within the wider trend of public companies adopting bitcoin treasury strategies. Those strategies aim to diversify reserves, but this case exposes custody, counterparty and operational risks tied to holding digital assets on third-party platforms.
The reported value of such holdings therefore depends on accessibility, not just on their nominal market price. An asset that cannot be withdrawn cannot be treated as available, whatever the bitcoin price.
Outlook and scenarios
Three scenarios stand out in the near term. In the first, the platform releases the roughly 817 BTC, the company publishes corrected financial statements and confidence gradually returns. In the second, the request stays blocked for several months, prolonging pressure on the stock and uncertainty over real liquidity. In the third, further accounting adjustments uncover other items to be restated, with a wider impact on equity.
Beyond this case, the episode underlines that corporate bitcoin ownership requires close due diligence on custody, platform contracts and transfer traceability. The distinction between ownership, custody and availability is becoming a central test for investors.
Sources
- CoinDesk, October 28, 2026
- Robinhood, bitcoin tracking page
- CryptoNews
- Ground News
- KuCoin News
- Moomoo News
Cet article est publié à titre informatif et éducatif. Il ne constitue en aucun cas un conseil en investissement. Faites vos propres recherches (DYOR) avant toute décision.
