[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] UK bitcoin treasury company Satsuma Technology has decided to sell all 668 bitcoin it holds and end its business. Less than a year after pitching bitcoin holdings as its core strategy, it has begun liquidation steps after failing to withstand a share-price plunge and pressure to return funds.

On July 22 (local time), blockchain outlet Decrypt reported that Satsuma shareholders approved the full sale of its bitcoin and a London Stock Exchange delisting agenda item with more than 90 percent support. Satsuma was the No. 2 UK-listed bitcoin treasury company by holdings, but shareholders judged it better to dispose of assets and get cash back than to keep the listed company operating.

The company plans to dispose of bitcoin worth about $43.5 million and then refund remaining funds to shareholders through a UK “B share scheme”. It said actual refunds are expected to total 26.8 million to 30.0 million pounds after reflecting wind-down costs of about 2.7 million pounds, including legal fees, severance pay, delisting costs and remaining insurance premiums.

Satsuma originally started as a small artificial intelligence (AI) company called TAO Alpha. In August 2025 it changed its name to Satsuma Technology and shifted its business direction to a bitcoin treasury company as it recruited Mark Moss as chief bitcoin strategy officer.

At the time, the company raised 163.6 million pounds through a convertible bond issue. ParaFi Capital led the investment, with Pantera Capital, Digital Currency Group and Kraken also participating. Some investors directly contributed 1,097 bitcoin instead of about $97 million in cash, backing the company’s bitcoin strategy.

But the situation changed after bitcoin hit a peak of $126,000 in October 2025 and then turned into a prolonged downtrend. Satsuma shares also plunged, and the company last December sold 579 bitcoin first for about 40.0 million pounds to secure liquidity. The move was to raise cash to repay convertible bond investors who did not convert.

Executive departures also followed. The chief financial officer left in February 2026, and the chief executive officer resigned the following month. In April, the share price was down more than 99 percent from its June 2025 peak, and Pantera Capital, which holds about 6.7 percent, began publicly demanding a full liquidation.

A big gap between market capitalisation and net asset value helped fuel the liquidation push. As the company’s market value fell far below the value of its bitcoin holdings, a view spread among investors that it was better to hold bitcoin directly than to hold Satsuma shares. A shareholder group holding more than 20 percent of outstanding shares ultimately put the liquidation proposal to a formal vote.

Opinion was divided inside the board. Four of the six directors opposed liquidation, saying Satsuma could continue to exist as a listed bitcoin investment vehicle. The other two backed ending the business. Shareholders overturned the board majority view by a wide margin in the vote.

Investors’ total recoveries are expected to fall far short of the amount originally raised. Even combining the 40.0 million pounds secured from the bitcoin sale last December and the refunds planned after this liquidation, total recovered funds are seen at 66.0 million to 70.0 million pounds. That is less than half of the 163.6 million pounds raised.

In particular, convertible bondholders rank ahead of common shareholders for repayment, so the amount ordinary shareholders actually receive could fall further. It means not only the bitcoin price decline but also the debt-heavy funding structure amplified losses.

The liquidation process will proceed after approval by the UK High Court. The court is set to hear the capital refund plan in August and September, and the London Stock Exchange delisting is expected in mid-September. Payments to shareholders are expected to be completed by the end of September.

The Satsuma case shows that the bitcoin treasury strategy that spread in 2025 can work as a tool to expand corporate value in a rising market, but can collapse rapidly when a price drop coincides with pressure to repay convertible bonds. Among UK listed companies, the top bitcoin holder is The Smarter Web Company with 2,878 bitcoin, and no move to end its business has emerged so far.