Datavault AI, a US-listed company, told the SEC on October 26 that it asked in June 2026 to withdraw bitcoin from its account at the exchange Biconomy and still hasn't been able to. The coins were never sent on the Bitcoin network; they were only credited inside the exchange. The company now says that bitcoin never counted as its own asset, and it's correcting four sets of financial reports. For anyone holding crypto on an exchange, it's a plain reminder: a balance on a screen is a promise until you can withdraw it.

Key facts

  • Who: Datavault AI Inc., a Nasdaq-listed company; Scilex Holding; the exchange Biconomy Pte. Ltd.
  • What: Datavault says it has been unable to complete a bitcoin withdrawal from Biconomy that it requested in June 2026; the filing gives no reason
  • When: Filed with the SEC on October 26, 2026
  • How much: Scilex paid for $150 million of Datavault shares in bitcoin, about 1,328 BTC; 1,309.04 BTC was credited off-chain at Biconomy and 491.431 BTC was later sold back to Scilex
  • Source: Datavault AI Form 8-K, SEC

A company says it has been trying since June to get its bitcoin out of an exchange, and can't. In a filing with the SEC on October 26, Datavault AI said that in June 2026 it "requested a withdrawal of Bitcoin from the digital wallet maintained at Biconomy to an external account and has, as of the date of this Current Report on Form 8-K, been unable to complete the withdrawal." The filing doesn't say why.

Where the bitcoin came from

In 2025, Scilex Holding agreed to buy $150 million of Datavault shares and pay in bitcoin, about 1,328 coins. According to the filing, Scilex credited 1,309.04 bitcoin to Datavault's account at Biconomy Pte. Ltd. "through an off-chain transfer" in September and November 2025. Between September 2025 and January 2026, Datavault sold 491.431 of those bitcoin back to Scilex, again off-chain, for about $40.5 million in cash.

Now Datavault says the bitcoin "did not meet the requirements for recognition as a digital asset of the Company." Instead of coins, its books will show money still owed by Scilex. It told investors not to rely on its 2025 annual report or three quarterly reports, and expects its stated total assets to fall by as much as $92.2 million. Because it had counted that bitcoin as cash it could use, it's also rechecking whether it can keep going as a business, and says collecting what Scilex owes is "uncertain."

What "off-chain" means for you

When you send bitcoin from one wallet to another, the move is written on the Bitcoin network, and anyone can check it. An off-chain transfer is different. It's just two numbers changing inside one company's database. Your account says you have coins, but they're sitting in the exchange's own wallets, under its control.

That works fine until the exchange won't, or can't, let you take them out. Then the balance on your screen is only a promise. It's the same lesson people learned when exchanges froze withdrawals before they failed. More on keeping coins on an exchange versus your own wallet.

Before you leave crypto on an exchange

  • Test a small withdrawal to your own wallet now and then. If it stalls with no clear reason, stop adding money.
  • Keep only what you're trading on the exchange. Long-term holdings belong in a wallet you control.
  • Check where the exchange is regulated and whether it publishes proof of what it holds. Our crypto due diligence checklist walks through it.
  • Watch for "pay a fee to unlock" messages. If you're ever told to send more money to release a stuck withdrawal, that's a scam.

Biconomy hasn't publicly explained the delay, and Datavault hasn't said when its corrected reports will be filed. We'll update this story if either does.

Sources: Datavault AI Inc., Form 8-K filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (October 26, 2026), Unchained, Datavault AI Stock Jumps 31% Even as Its Bitcoin Sits Stuck at Biconomy (October 2026).