Shares of Nasdaq-listed Datavault AI Inc. collapsed on Tuesday, closing down 49.55% at $0.067 after the company disclosed that it had been unable to withdraw Bitcoin tied to a $150 million share purchase agreement with Scilex Holding Company. Trading volume surged to roughly 244–250 million shares, about eight times the prior session’s activity, following an October 26 Form 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The dispute traces back to September 2025, when Scilex agreed to buy 15 million Datavault common shares and a pre-funded warrant covering more than 263.9 million additional shares for $150 million payable in Bitcoin. According to the filing, approximately 1,328.43 BTC was valued at $112,915.52 per coin; CoinDesk reported 1,309.04 BTC was credited to Datavault’s Biconomy exchange account through off-chain transfers. Between September 2025 and January 2026, Datavault sold around 491.431 BTC back to Scilex for approximately $40.5 million in cash. Datavault says it first requested a withdrawal of the remaining Bitcoin from Biconomy in June 2026, but the transfer had still not been completed as of October 26, with no clear reason or completion date provided.
Datavault now says the Bitcoin should not have been recognized as a company digital asset. Instead, the unpaid share purchase amount must be recorded as a subscription receivable from Scilex, reducing shareholders’ equity. Management and the audit committee concluded that financial statements covering September 2025 through June 2026 “should no longer be relied upon.” Preliminary corrections would cut reported total assets by $8.1 million as of September 30, 2025; $92.2 million as of December 31, 2025; $57.1 million as of March 31, 2026; and $49 million as of June 30, 2026.
The company is reviewing its financial reporting controls and going-concern assessment, warning that further errors may emerge. It plans to file corrected statements with the SEC but has not set a timeline. Biconomy did not respond to requests for comment, while Scilex’s June report said it sold $200 million of shares in subsidiary Semnur to Biconomy for Bitcoin before using $150 million to purchase Datavault securities.
