Case study

Sequans: the lenders held the keys

Sequans arranged $384 million of financing in July 2025 to buy bitcoin, pledged all of the bitcoin to its lenders and set a target of 100,000. It reported its first sale less than four months after its first purchase, and held none by September 2026.

The short version

3,234
bitcoin at the peak in October 2025, bought for a net $377.2 million: $189M
of secured convertible debentures, with all of the bitcoin pledged against them: 100,000
bitcoin targeted by 2030, announced 82 days before the first sale was reported (our count): 0
bitcoin held after September 24, 2026

Sources: [8][4][18][7][11][21]

What happened

June and July 2025
A semiconductor company raises money to buy bitcoin
Sequans, a French semiconductor company listed in New York, announced a bitcoin treasury funded by about $195 million of equity and $189 million of secured convertible debentures due July 2028. That is $384 million at face value, or about $376 million in cash after a 4% discount on the debentures. The financing depended on a shareholder vote at the June 30 general meeting and closed on July 7. The debentures carried no interest in the first year, 6% in the second and 8% after that.[1][2][4][5]
July to October 2025
3,234 bitcoin, all of it pledged
Sequans announced its first 370 bitcoin on July 10 and held 3,072 by late July. By October 3 it held 3,234, bought for a net $377.2 million at an average of $116,643 each. According to its annual report, all 3,234 were pledged as collateral for the debentures. Under the debenture terms they sat in an escrow account.[5][6][8][18][9]
August 14, 2025
A target of 100,000
Sequans said it planned to reach 100,000 bitcoin by 2030.[7]
October 27, 2025
The lenders consent
Sequans agreed an amendment and consent with the collateral agent, which also held a majority of the debentures. It permitted the company to repurchase half of the debentures at 106.5% of principal. It released 970 bitcoin from escrow to fund the repurchase and a further 647 to the company, free of the pledge, once that was done. It also deleted the loan-to-collateral provision from the debentures.[9]
November 4, 2025
The first sale
Eight days later Sequans announced that it had sold 970 bitcoin and cut the debentures from $189 million to $94.5 million. It called the sale a tactical decision and said its conviction was unchanged. The announcement gave no price and no proceeds. The annual report later put the cost of the repurchase at $100.6 million.[11][18]
December 2025 to February 2026
A buyback, then a second amendment
On December 18 Sequans announced that it had bought back 1,516,973 of its American depositary shares at an average of $6.17, funded by what it called recent bitcoin dispositions. At year-end it held 2,139 bitcoin, 1,617 of them pledged against the remaining $94.5 million. In February a second amendment allowed the rest of the debentures to be repurchased at par by June 1, 2026, with the bitcoin released from escrow to be used solely for that. A Form 6-K said the pledged bitcoin would be sold in increments to pay for it.[12][13][15][16]
May 2026
The strategy ends
First-quarter results showed 1,514 bitcoin at March 31 and 1,114 at April 30. The annual report said the company had sold 700 of the pledged bitcoin for $50.8 million by April 23, and that it did not intend to pursue its bitcoin treasury strategy further. On May 28 Sequans said all of the convertible debt had been redeemed and that it held about 658 bitcoin, none of it pledged.[17][18][19]
September 24, 2026
Zero
Sequans held 314 bitcoin at June 30. On September 24 it announced it had sold them and had no cryptocurrency left on its balance sheet, a little over fourteen months after its first purchase.[20][21]

Four questions, and what the record shows

A sale policy answers four questions before a sale happens. This is what Sequans’s public record says about each.

When may bitcoin be sold?: No sale policy was published. In practice the pledged bitcoin left the escrow account under the two amendments agreed with the lenders. At the end of 2025, 1,617 of the company’s 2,139 bitcoin were still pledged.[18][9][15][13]
Who approves a sale?: For the pledged bitcoin, the lenders’ side had to consent. Both amendments are consents given by the collateral agent, which also held a majority of the debentures. Shareholders approved the share issuance that the financing depended on. The sources we reviewed do not say whether the board approved any bitcoin sale. The board is named for the share buybacks and, on the February 2026 results call, as reviewing options for the treasury strategy.[9][15][3][14]
How is a sale disclosed?: Mostly after the fact. The first sale was announced eight days after the amendment that permitted it. In February 2026 a Form 6-K said the remaining pledged bitcoin would be sold in increments by June 1 to redeem the rest of the debt. After that, sales appeared as lower period-end holdings in quarterly results, one figure in the annual report and two further releases. No release gave a sale price.[11][16][18]
How are the proceeds used?: Partly set by contract. The first amendment released 1,617 bitcoin: 970 to fund the repurchase of half the debt, and 647 returned to the company without restriction. The second required released bitcoin to be used solely for debenture repurchases. Sequans said bitcoin sales also funded its share buyback. After the debt was gone, the proceeds went to cash.[9][15][10][12]

How the position unwound

Sequans mostly reported what it held, not what it sold. The table shows the holding and the convertible debt at each reported date. Reported proceeds from sales of digital assets were $116.5 million in 2025 and $130.1 million in the first half of 2026.

Sequans bitcoin holdings and convertible debt outstanding, October 2025 to September 2026
Date	Bitcoin held	Convertible debt	Note
October 3, 2025	3,234	$189 million	All pledged
November 4, 2025	2,264	$94.5 million	After selling 970. The annual report dates the repurchase to November 10
December 31, 2025	2,139	$94.5 million	1,617 pledged
March 31, 2026	1,514	$66.2 million	1,217 pledged
April 30, 2026	1,114	$35.9 million	817 pledged
May 28, 2026	About 658	None	None pledged
June 30, 2026	314	None
September 24, 2026	0	None

Sources: [8][18][11][13][17][19][20][21]

What a board can take from it

Pledged bitcoin answers to the lender first.

While every coin was collateral, the company could not sell without the lenders’ consent, and the amendments said where most of the money went. A board that pledges its bitcoin has shared the sale decision with someone else. The policy should say so.

A target is a public commitment.

Sequans announced a target of 100,000 bitcoin in August 2025 and reported its first sale in November. A target costs nothing to announce. Selling within three months of announcing one costs credibility.

Read the price of the way out.

Half the debt was issued at a 4% discount and repurchased about four months later at 106.5% of principal. The other half was repurchased at par. Financing a volatile asset with secured debt means the exit has a price, and it is negotiated when the company wants its collateral back.

Disclose sales, not just balances.

Sequans gave a count for three of its sales and a dollar figure for one. For the rest, investors had to subtract one period’s holdings from the last, and no release gave a price. A sale policy should set what is reported and when.

Sources

Satoshi Institute has no relationship with Sequans. This analysis draws only on public filings and published reporting. It says nothing about Sequans’s internal policies beyond what those sources show. Published October 10, 2026. Last reviewed October 10, 2026.

Other case studies

MARA: the sale that retired the debt
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Strategy: “never sell” was not the policy
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Block: the rule covers buying
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Metaplanet: a sale to prove it could
Sold 10,000 bitcoin and bought back 11,000 in one quarter, to show rating agencies it could. Its position on selling came with the disclosure.
Tesla: the company that sold
Bought under a policy the Audit Committee approved. Sold with no published rule. What the filings show.

The Sale Policy Sprint answers the four questions

A board-ready policy that settles when bitcoin may be sold, who approves it, how it is disclosed and how the proceeds are used. Fixed fee, 15 business days.

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Sequans: the lenders held the keys

The short version

What happened

A semiconductor company raises money to buy bitcoin

3,234 bitcoin, all of it pledged

A target of 100,000

The lenders consent

The first sale

A buyback, then a second amendment

The strategy ends

Zero