Bitcoin Booked, Then Unbooked: Datavault AI’s $150M Accounting Shock

Shares of Nasdaq-listed Datavault AI crashed nearly 50% on Tuesday after a $150 million Bitcoin deal triggered an accounting controversy that could reduce previously reported assets by $92.2 million and require four financial statements to be corrected. Roughly 244 million shares changed hands, and the stock now trades about 88% below the price a major investor agreed to pay last year.

The controversy began in September 2025, when painkiller maker Scilex Holding agreed to purchase $150 million in Datavault shares and warrants using Bitcoin. Just two days earlier, Scilex had agreed to exchange $200 million worth of shares in its Semnur Pharmaceuticals subsidiary for Bitcoin and hired crypto exchange Biconomy to support its plans. “Biotech is a market we know well,” Scilex CEO Henry Ji said at the time, promising to guide Datavault’s expansion.

The Bitcoin never moved on-chain. Instead, Scilex credited 1,309 BTC to Datavault’s Biconomy account through internal exchange records. Datavault later sold 491 BTC back to Scilex for $40.5 million, while the remaining 818 BTC remain inaccessible after a withdrawal request made in June.

According to an October 26 SEC filing, Datavault now says those Bitcoin balances should never have been recorded as company assets. Instead, they should have been treated as money owed by Scilex, potentially reducing previously reported assets by $92.2 million. The company is also reassessing whether it has sufficient resources to continue operating. “One of the ugliest 8-Ks you’ll ever see,” commented VanEck’s Matthew Sigel. The findings remain preliminary, Datavault still holds a claim against Scilex, and the filing offers no explanation for the stalled withdrawal.