In what would be the begin to placing in a backside within the crypto sell-off or the harbinger of extra brutality to return, or each, Paris-based Sequans (SQNS) turned the primary of this yr’s hastily-formed bitcoin treasury corporations to unload some its BTC stack.
Alongside its third-quarter earnings report, Sequans Tuesday mentioned it redeemed 50% of its July 2025 convertible debt by promoting 970 bitcoin BTC$104,608.94, reducing complete debt from $189 million to $94.5 million.
Its bitcoin reserves now stand at 2,264 BTC, value roughly $240 million, decreasing the debt-to-net asset worth (NAV) ratio from 55% to 39%.
CEO Georges Karam described the choice as tactical and market-driven, emphasizing that the corporate’s long-term bitcoin technique stays intact. With much less leverage and fewer debt covenants, Sequans plans to broaden its capital market choices, together with its ADR buyback program, potential most well-liked share issuance, and yield-generating methods utilizing bitcoin.
Bubble aftermath
Sequans ADRs are decrease by one other 9% on Tuesday and 82% year-to-date. The microcap semiconductor firm pivoted to a bitcoin treasury technique in July, becoming a member of a rush of different corporations trying to imitate the success of Michael Saylor’s Technique.
The inventory costs of practically all have collapsed at the same time as the worth of bitcoin — although down sizably of late — stays simply 20% beneath its file excessive.
Sequans finds itself a part of a rising checklist of BTC treasury names seeing their market capitalizations buying and selling nicely beneath the worth of their bitcoin holdings. This not solely makes it troublesome to not possible to lift capital for additional accumulation, but in addition may go away managements no selection however to promote BTC to both pay down debt or return cash to shareholders.
