New York Stock Exchange-listed chipmaker Sequans has sold almost 1,000 bitcoin to pay off debts.

The bitcoin, sold at a loss for almost $100 million, reduced the Paris, France-based company’s outstanding debt by 50% to $94 million from $189 million.

Sequans’ bitcoin reserves now stand at just over 2,200 bitcoin, worth roughly $240 million, with the sale lowering its debt-to-net asset value (NAV) ratio from 55% to 39%.

“Our bitcoin treasury strategy and our deep conviction in bitcoin remain unchanged,” Sequans chief executive Georges Karam said in a statement. “This transaction was a tactical decision aimed at unlocking shareholder value given current market conditions.”

The bitcoin treasury company trend, led by Michael Saylor’s Strategy, has seen hundreds of companies raise money to buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies this year.

Bitcoin treasury companies, including the likes of meme stock darling GameStop and the Tokyo-based Metaplanet that’s backed by U.S. president Donald Trump’s sons, now control 1 million bitcoin, worth around $100 billion.

According to Swan Bitcoin chief executive Cory Klippsten, who is responsible for Sequans’ treasury strategy, Sequans’ private investment in public equity (pipe) deal, “was too leveraged, at nearly 50%,” with the deal following the sale of almost 1,000 bitcoin, allowing for “much more flexibility at lower leverage, e.g. for buybacks.”

Sequans’ share price has cratered this year, down around 80%, with a brief spike in July when the company announced it was buying bitcoin immediately falling away.

Sign up now for CryptoCodex—A free crypto newsletter that will get you ahead of the market

The company’s problems are reminiscent of many other bitcoin and crypto treasury companies that have so far almost universally failed to see stock market gains, piling pressure on executives to justify the strategy as raising more capital becomes harder.

Last month, David Duong, head of investment research at Coinbase, warned that bitcoin treasury companies have “ghosted” the market since last month’s “flash crash,” with bitcoin purchases falling to near year-to-date lows over the past two weeks.

“Bitcoin treasury companies have largely ghosted the post-October 10 drawdown and are yet to re-engage,” Duong posted to X.

Companies that have issued debt to buy bitcoin may have no choice but to sell their bitcoin to repay those debts if they’re unable to raise more money, potentially triggering a price cascade as companies rush to sell before others.

Meanwhile, the bitcoin price is already in free fall as traders remain on the sidelines.

“The market is truly searching for a local bottom,” Ray Youssef, former chief executive of Paxful and now CEO of peer-to-peer crypto trading platform NoOnes, said in emailed comments.

“We’re seeing a classic exhaustion phase: positive news has no noticeable impact on the price, while any negative news immediately leads to sell-offs. This market behavior indicates weakness in the buying side and a reduced willingness among retail investors to buy on dips.”