Datavault AI Plunges 50% as Exchange Withdrawal Issue Halts Access to Bitcoin

Datavault AI shares fell nearly 50% on Tuesday after the company disclosed it could not withdraw its Bitcoin from the Biconomy exchange and must restate its financial results ⁸.

The stock closed at $0.067, recording a 49.55% drop on trading volume of approximately 244 million shares ⁸. The withdrawal issue has been ongoing since June ⁸.

Off-Chain Transfers and Restatements

The situation originates from a September 2025 deal in which Scilex Holding Company agreed to buy $150 million of Datavault shares and warrants using Bitcoin ⁸. Scilex credited 1,309.04 BTC to Datavault's account at Biconomy via off-chain transfers ⁸. Datavault later sold 491.4 BTC back to Scilex for roughly $40.5 million in cash ⁸.

However, when Datavault attempted to withdraw funds to an external account in June, the transfer could not be completed, and the issue remained unresolved as of a Monday filing ⁸. Datavault stated that the Bitcoin credited through the Scilex investment should have been recorded as an amount owed by Scilex for the shares ⁸. This accounting change will reduce Datavault's reported assets by $92.2 million at the end of 2025 and by $49 million as of June 2026 ⁸. The company had previously relied on the Bitcoin balances to fund its operations and must now reevaluate that assumption ⁸. Biconomy also supplied the Bitcoin for the initial investment, having bought $200 million of shares in Scilex's subsidiary Semnur using the cryptocurrency ⁸.

Market Context Amid the Withdrawal Issue

The withdrawal complication emerged as Bitcoin faced resistance between $84,000 and $85,000 ⁴. Glassnode reported that 4.3% of the total BTC supply, or 864,520 BTC, last moved onchain within this price band, primarily linked to a single large holder ⁴. The analysis noted that Bitcoin has struggled to sustain daily closes above $85,000, facing resistance at this level in May, September, and October ⁴. Long-term holders also own approximately four million coins with a cost basis between $85,000 and $118,000, creating potential sell-side pressure if the price recovers to those levels ⁴.

At the same time, the broader crypto market navigated macroeconomic developments, with the Federal Reserve holding interest rates at 3.75% to 4% [2, 5]. The decision included two dissenting votes favoring a hike, and traders increased the odds of a December rate increase to 82.6% [2, 5]. Despite the hawkish hold, Bitcoin's options market priced in little added risk, with Deribit's implied volatility index remaining stable near 37.6 ⁵. A significant expiration of about $11 billion in Bitcoin options, roughly 135,000 BTC, is scheduled for Friday on Deribit ².