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Datavault AI Inc recently told investors that more than a year of its financial reports can't be trusted, which has drawn pointed criticism from one of crypto’s most closely followed analysts.
Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at investment firm <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/vaneck" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">VanEck</a>, posted a section of Datavault’s latest SEC filing on X, and called it “one of the ugliest 8-Ks you’ll ever see.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
 One of the ugliest 8-Ks you'll ever see. <a href="https://t.co/rCAaaOfR9b" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">pic.twitter.com/rCAaaOfR9b</a>— matthew sigel, recovering CFA (@matthew_sigel) <a href="https://x.com/matthew_sigel/status/2115274519103361331?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">October 28, 2026</a>
</blockquote>
An 8-K is the form U.S.-listed companies use to notify the <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/securities-and-exchange-commission" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Securities and Exchange Commission</a> and investors of major corporate events.
Datavault, a Philadelphia-based data <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/technology" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">technology</a> company, uses <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/artificial-intelligence" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">AI</a> and blockchain tools to help businesses value, secure and monetize their data.
<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/nasdaq" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Nasdaq</a>-listed Datavault filed the report on Oct. 26, and its shares have since lost more than half their value.
<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/jpmorgan-flags-a-major-risk-for-crypto-investors" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Related: JPMorgan flags a major risk for crypto investors</a>
<h2 id="datavault-flags-four-reports-as-unreliable">Datavault flags four reports as unreliable</h2>
<a href="https://ir.datavaultsite.com/sec-filings/all-sec-filings/content/0001104659-26-118772/tm2628100d1_8k.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">In the filing, Datavault says</a> its audit committee and management concluded on Oct. 20 that four earlier financial reports “should no longer be relied upon.”
They cover the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2025, the full year 2025, and the first two quarters of 2026.
The company ties the decision to a September 2025 deal with Scilex. Scilex agreed to buy Datavault shares and a pre-funded warrant for $150 million, payable in Bitcoin.&nbsp;
A pre-funded warrant is a right to buy shares where almost the entire price is paid upfront.
According to the filing, Scilex credited 1,309.04 Bitcoin to Datavault’s wallet at Biconomy, a crypto platform.&nbsp;
The transfers were off-chain, so the platform recorded them on its own books rather than on the <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/bitcoin" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Bitcoin</a> blockchain. Datavault later sold 491.431 Bitcoin back to Scilex for about $40.5 million in cash.
<h3 id="trending-on-thestreet-roundtable">Trending on TheStreet Roundtable:</h3>
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In June 2026, the company asked to withdraw Bitcoin from that <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/wallets" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">wallet</a> to an outside account. As of the filing, it had not been able to complete the withdrawal.
Datavault expects the restatements to reduce its reported total assets by between $8.1 million and $92.2 million across the affected periods.&nbsp;
The company calls the figures preliminary and unaudited. It is also reassessing its going-concern evaluation, an accounting test of whether a business can keep operating.
<h2 id="shares-lose-more-than-half-their-value">Shares lose more than half their value</h2>
The stock market’s verdict came fast.
Datavault shares (DVLT) traded around 13 cents before the filing. They then slid through the next two sessions.
<figure>
 <figcaption>
 Datavault AI stock price movement at press time. Source: <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/DVLT/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Yahoo Finance</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
At 9:42 a.m. ET on Oct. 28, the stock traded at $0.0734. That was up 9.54% on the day but still down about 52% over five days.
Datavault says it plans to file restated reports with the SEC but has not set a timeline. It adds that its review is ongoing and may uncover additional errors, which could cause further delays.
<h2 id="the-roundtable-100">The Roundtable 100</h2>
If you follow our market coverage, don’t miss the <a href="https://roundtable100.com/tab/rankings" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Roundtable 100</a>. Updated every Friday, it's a power ranking of the 100 most investable tech stocks, including digital assets. Check out the latest <a href="https://roundtable100.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">RTB 100</a> rankings at <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">roundtable100.com</a>
<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/top-analyst-cuts-coinbase-target-bets-on-prediction-markets" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Related: Top analyst cuts Coinbase target, bets on prediction markets</a>

Top analyst calls Nasdaq AI firm’s SEC filing 'one of the ugliest' ever

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