Shares of Datavault AI Inc. (Nasdaq: DVLT) tumbled nearly 50 percent on Tuesday after the company revealed in a regulatory filing that it has been unable to withdraw bitcoin associated with a large equity financing, forcing a restatement of multiple periods of financial results.
The stock closed at approximately $0.067, down about 49.6 percent from the prior day’s close of $0.133, amid heavy trading volume.
The developments stem from a securities purchase agreement signed on September 25, 2025, with Scilex Holding Co.
Under the agreement, Scilex committed to acquire 15 million shares of Datavault common stock together with a pre-funded warrant exercisable for more than 263.9 million additional shares.
Total consideration was set at $150 million, to be settled in bitcoin at a reference price of $112,915.52 per bitcoin, equating to roughly 1,328.43 BTC.
On September 26 and November 25, 2025, Scilex credited 1,309.04 bitcoin to a digital wallet held by Datavault at Biconomy Pte. Ltd. through off-chain transfers (the figure reflecting a modest reduction for earlier cash advances). Between late September 2025 and the end of January 2026,
Datavault transferred 491.431 of those credited bitcoin back to Scilex via further off-chain movements in exchange for approximately $40.5 million in cash.
In June 2026, Datavault requested that bitcoin held in the Biconomy wallet be withdrawn to an external account.
As of the October 26, 2026, filing date, that withdrawal had still not been completed.
The Form 8-K provides no additional explanation for the delay.
Following a subsequent review, Datavault’s management and audit committee concluded that the bitcoin tied to the Scilex transaction did not meet the criteria for recognition as a company digital asset.
Instead, the arrangement should have been recorded as a subscription receivable arising from the equity issuance, presented as a reduction of stockholders’ equity in accordance with applicable accounting guidance.
Cash proceeds from the later bitcoin-for-cash exchanges with Scilex would reduce that receivable.
As a result, previously issued financial statements covering the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2025; the year ended December 31, 2025; the quarter ended March 31, 2026; and the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2026, can no longer be relied upon.
Related earnings releases and investor materials for those periods are similarly unreliable to the extent they incorporate the affected figures.
Preliminary estimates indicate the corrections will lower 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 $49.0 million as of June 30, 2026.
Associated crypto-asset gains and losses are also expected to be reversed.
Management noted that it had previously treated the bitcoin balances as available liquidity when assessing going-concern considerations; because those balances will no longer appear as assets and collection of any amounts due from Scilex remains uncertain, the company is reassessing those evaluations.
Datavault intends to restate the affected periods in future SEC filings, though the precise timing has not yet been determined.
Its review of internal controls over financial reporting is ongoing and may identify additional issues. The disclosure has left investors questioning both the accessibility of the bitcoin and the reliability of Datavault’s reported financial position over more than a year. The company has discussed the matters with its current and former independent auditors.
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