Bitcoin treasury company Empery Digital sold approximately 1,635 BTC for roughly $102.2 million between July 1 and August 6, reducing its total holdings to 1,279 BTC. But the more telling number is what's actually usable: 954 of those coins are pledged as collateral against $35 million in debt, leaving just 325 BTC unrestricted — a 76% drop in the company's available reserve in a little over five weeks.
The pace of the reduction stands out even against a year that has already seen several bitcoin treasury companies trim their holdings. Crypto.news reported that Empery's unrestricted BTC pool stood at 1,375 coins at the end of June, meaning the vast majority of that buffer disappeared within a single five-week stretch.
Where the Money Actually Went
The company said proceeds from the sales were directed toward debt repayment, a planned property purchase, legal expenses and operations — a mix that reads more like a company managing near-term cash needs than one executing a strategic pivot. That said, Empery has also been channeling some proceeds into share repurchases, and is simultaneously accelerating a push into AI data center infrastructure through a joint venture called EMHU, which could require additional capital commitments of up to roughly $63.2 million.
A Second Wave of Selling in a Single Year
This isn't Empery's first significant reduction. The company had already sold 1,167 BTC for $80.1 million during the first half of 2026, meaning the July-August sales represent a second, faster wave of liquidation layered on top of an already-declining position. Taken together, the two rounds of selling have moved Empery from a company built around a bitcoin-holding treasury model to one with a comparatively thin, mostly encumbered reserve.
Related: On-Chain Data Flags More BTC Sales From Strategy-Linked Wallet
Empery's situation mirrors a broader pattern this year: MARA disclosed selling 23,093 BTC for $1.63 billion in the first half of 2026 to help fund its own shift toward AI and high-performance computing, part of a wider trend of bitcoin-holding companies leaning on their treasuries to fund unrelated capital needs rather than treating the coins as untouchable.
With its unrestricted reserve now down to 325 BTC, Empery has comparatively little room left to repeat this kind of sale again without either raising new debt or further encumbering what remains of its position.
