Another Bitcoin treasury company exits: Heavy BTC accumulation at peak prices leads to massive losses; commitment lasted less than a year
TechFlow Selected TechFlow Selected
Another Bitcoin treasury company exits: Heavy BTC accumulation at peak prices leads to massive losses; commitment lasted less than a year
Having entered the cryptocurrency space for less than a year, French semiconductor company Sequans has liquidated its Bitcoin holdings and announced its return to its core semiconductor business.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Protos
Translated by Chopper, Foresight News
Eleven months ago, French semiconductor company Sequans Communications launched a corporate Bitcoin reserve program to avert delisting from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Today, that experiment has ended in disappointment.
The chipmaker confirmed it has fully repaid its convertible bonds by selling its Bitcoin holdings and plans to gradually liquidate its remaining 658 BTC. At its peak, Sequans held 3,234 BTC.
Sequans had previously announced its intention to accumulate over 3,000 BTC as a long-term reserve asset. Yet this so-called “long term” lasted less than a year.
The company’s stock (ticker: SQNS) has fallen 77% year-to-date and plunged 97% over the past five years.
Sequans launched its Bitcoin reserve program on June 23, 2025—just 18 days after the NYSE issued a delisting warning, citing the company’s market capitalization and shareholders’ equity both falling below the exchange’s $50 million minimum threshold. At the time, Swan Bitcoin—and its CEO Cory Klippsten—was heavily promoting the initiative. (Note: Swan Bitcoin served as Sequans’ exclusive execution partner and advisor for its Bitcoin reserve strategy.)
Sequans’ latest announcement confirms full repayment of its convertible bonds
Klippsten stated at the time: “Sequans has the potential to become a leader in the corporate Bitcoin reserve space.” Back then, SQNS traded at $23.40 per share; today, it opened at just $3.98.
Bitcoin Reserve Strategy Fails Before It Even Gains Traction
After the market bubble burst in early summer 2025, share prices of numerous publicly listed companies with digital asset reserves collectively weakened. Sequans’ once-promising vision has now evaporated.
Sequans CEO Georges Karam had earlier made high-profile statements expressing firm belief in Bitcoin as a high-quality asset with exceptional long-term investment value.
The company selected Swan Bitcoin as its implementation partner and Coinbase Prime as its custodian. Northland Capital Markets and B. Riley Securities acted as joint bookrunners, helping Sequans raise $384 million in a private placement.
Of that amount, only $195 million came from the sale of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) priced at $1.40 per share; the remaining $189 million consisted of secured convertible bonds collateralized by Bitcoin. In other words, from day one of the program’s launch, the Bitcoin held as reserves was effectively pledged to creditors.
As of October 3, 2025, Sequans held a total of 3,234 BTC, with an average acquisition cost of approximately $116,643 per coin. As of this article’s publication, Bitcoin’s price has dropped to $73,000.
Just one month later, the publicly listed company gained notoriety for negative news: it sold 970 BTC to repay part of its debt.
This move directly violated the core tenet of the corporate “HODL” philosophy. Michael Saylor—the pioneer of this model—famously declared: “Don’t sell your Bitcoin, even if you’re starving.” Yet Sequans ultimately chose to sell Bitcoin to repay debt.
Percentage change in adjusted net asset value per share (mNAV) for multiple Bitcoin treasury companies since July 22, 2025
“Bitcoin Reserve Strategy Officially Terminated”
Five months later, Sequans completely halted the program. Its official announcement simply read: “The Bitcoin reserve strategy has been terminated.”
CEO Karam—who once enthusiastically championed Bitcoin—now states that this debt repayment marks a pivotal turning point for the company. Going forward, Sequans will focus entirely on its core IoT semiconductor business and drive operational expansion.
All prior praise for Bitcoin’s value and promises to deliver long-term shareholder returns through crypto asset reserves have been abandoned. What remains is solely a plan to liquidate and exit.
In fact, Sequans had already signaled its withdrawal three weeks earlier, in its Q1 2026 financial report. In the risk factors section, the company explicitly noted its intention to discontinue Bitcoin reserve-related activities. That quarter, Sequans reported revenue of only $6.1 million and an operating loss of $50.5 million.
According to its annual report, Sequans posted a net loss of $109.3 million for 2025—of which $67.4 million stemmed solely from unrealized impairment losses on its Bitcoin holdings. The company’s cumulative losses have reached $145.1 million.
In short, Sequans bought high and sold low on Bitcoin, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in losses.
Originally, the company hoped Bitcoin reserves would bolster its financial resilience and generate long-term value for shareholders—yet both objectives have failed. Currently, SQNS trades more than 80% lower than on the day the Bitcoin initiative launched and is down 92% from its 52-week high.
Join TechFlow official community to stay tuned
Telegram:https://t.me/TechFlowDaily
X (Twitter):https://x.com/TechFlowPost
X (Twitter) EN:https://x.com/BlockFlow_News
@Protos
