Shares of Bitcoin treasury company Empery Digital rose on Friday after the company disclosed that it sold almost half of its Bitcoin holdings to fund an AI data center project and pay down debt.
Shares of Empery Digital (EMPD) rose 4.2% to $3.95 in the first 35 minutes of trading on Friday after the company revealed that he has sold 1,400 Bitcoins (BTC) over the past two months at an average price of $62,200 per coin for approximately $87.1 million.
Empery, which previously operated as a maker of electric motorsports vehicles, said part of the proceeds funded its 25% stake in a venture affiliated with Hunt Properties, which is acquiring an industrial site to turn it into an AI data center. Another $10 million was also allocated to repay outstanding debt.
While EMPD retreated to $3.86 – closing up 1.58% on the day – the initial rally suggests that investors have taken a positive view of Bitcoin selling at a time when confidence in Bitcoin treasury strategies is waning and capital is flowing towards artificial intelligence instead.
EMPD share price change over the last five trading days. Source: Google Finance
Empery’s sale of Bitcoin comes after months of pressure from Tice P. Brown, a nearly 10% shareholder of the company, who called on the company to abandon its Bitcoin purchase strategy and demanded the resignation of the CEO and entire board of directors. Empery switched to a Bitcoin-focused treasury strategy in mid-2025 as Bitcoin approached an all-time high of $126,080 set in October.
The Bitcoin sale reduced Empery’s holdings by 48% to 1,514 Bitcoins worth $97 million at current prices.
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Empery held a company high of 4,081 Bitcoins before dumping some of its holdings in March and April.
The strategy sold more BTC after the STRC incident
Even Strategy – the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin – sold 3,588 Bitcoins worth $216 million earlier this month, moving away from its previous “never sell your Bitcoin” stance, which actually resulted in an escalate in shares in the company.
Strategy said it used bitcoin sales to cover dividend payments to investors in its top perpetual preferred stock offering, Stretch (STRC), which fell from below $100 par value to below $75 last month, raising concerns that its dividend model is unsustainable.
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