Datavault AI's Bitcoin Withdrawal Failure Forces Restatement

By Elena Vasquez

Datavault AI disclosed on Oct. 26, 2026, that it cannot complete a June 2026 Bitcoin withdrawal from Biconomy, forcing four financial restatements that could cut reported assets by up to $92.2 million. The Nasdaq-listed company also put its going-concern status under review after concluding that the Bitcoin never qualified as one of its digital assets.

What did the SEC filing disclose?

In the Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Datavault said it requested a withdrawal to an external account in June and has been "unable to complete the withdrawal." The filing does not explain what is holding it up, leaving both the cause and the expected recovery date unstated.

The company also said four sets of financial statements can no longer be relied upon. The restatements cover the 2025 annual report and three quarterly reports filed between Nov. 2025 and Aug. 2026.

The expected reductions in total assets are:

• Sept. 30, 2025: $8.1 million
• Dec. 31, 2025: $92.2 million
• March 31, 2026: $57.1 million
• June 30, 2026: $49 million

Datavault expects to reverse the crypto gains and losses it recorded on the coins. The practical result is that previous asset totals, and the gains attached to them, cannot yet be treated as reliable.

Datavault shares fell 49.55% to $0.067 on Oct. 27, 2026, and closed around $0.06; they later rebounded to near $0.085 Wednesday. The trading move did not resolve the filing's central questions about asset control, collectability and liquidity.

Why did Datavault reverse the Bitcoin accounting?

On Sept. 25, 2025, Scilex Holding, a pain-medicine company, agreed to pay $150 million in Bitcoin for 15 million Datavault shares and a pre-funded warrant covering another 263.9 million shares. A pre-funded warrant permits a stock purchase after nearly the full price has been paid upfront.

At $112,915.52 per Bitcoin, the consideration equated to about 1,328.43 BTC. Scilex's effective purchase price under the agreement was $0.5378 per Datavault share.

Scilex credited 1,309.04 BTC to Datavault's Biconomy account in entries dated Sept. 26 and Nov. 25, 2025, according to the filing. The amount reflects a 19.39 BTC deduction for cash advances Scilex had made.

These were off-chain transfers: Biconomy changed balances in its own books rather than moving coins across the Bitcoin blockchain. In practical terms, Datavault depended on a third party's internal records, and the failed withdrawal has made that dependence an operational constraint.

How was the position unwound?

Between Sept. 26, 2025, and Jan. 30, 2026, Datavault sold 491.431 BTC back to Scilex through the same off-chain mechanism for about $40.5 million in cash. That return was well below the original $150 million consideration and reduced the balance Scilex owed.

After reviewing the transactions, Datavault concluded the Bitcoin never qualified as a digital asset of the company. It will instead book the deal as a subscription receivable, meaning money a buyer owes for newly issued stock, and show it as a reduction of stockholders' equity.

The practical result is a receivable whose collection Datavault later describes as uncertain, rather than a liquid Bitcoin balance.

What does Scilex's filing show?

Scilex's own quarterly filing says it sold 12.5 million shares of its Semnur Pharmaceuticals subsidiary to Biconomy on Sept. 23, 2025, for $200 million in Bitcoin. Scilex then used $150 million of that proceeds to buy Datavault stock.

On June 24, 2026, the same month Datavault says it sought the withdrawal, Scilex signed a binding term sheet to buy 837 BTC held in Datavault's Biconomy wallet for $50 million. The proposal required an initial $30 million payment and $20 million in quarterly installments through Dec. 31, 2028, payable in cash or Scilex securities at its discretion.

Adding the 837 BTC to the 491.431 BTC already sold back accounts for the original 1,328.43 BTC. Because the term sheet still requires a definitive agreement, it does not establish that the proposed $50 million payment has occurred.

What remains unresolved?

Because Datavault counted the Bitcoin balances as a source of liquidity, management is reassessing whether it can continue as a going concern, the accounting test for whether a business can keep operating and meet its obligations. The filing says "collection of the amounts owed by Scilex is uncertain."

Its risk list also names Scilex's creditworthiness, reliance on a third-party custodian, Nasdaq listing compliance, and litigation or regulatory inquiries tied to the restatement. The document presents these as risks, not as findings of wrongdoing.

Datavault has not said when it will file the corrected statements and warned that delays could extend to its quarterly report for the period ended Sept. 30, 2026. The immediate checkpoint is the corrected filing, because further delay would carry the accounting and listing uncertainty into the next reporting cycle.