The Last Layer of Window Paper: French Semiconductor Companies Hoard $BTC at High Levels, Then Exit After Massive Losses—Are Retail Investors Still Chasing the Bottom?

French chip company Sequans Communications, originally a company making IoT semiconductors, 11 months ago launched a corporate Bitcoin reserve plan to cope with the NYSE delisting warning. Now, the farce has come to an end — it has sold all its $BTC holdings, fully repaid even the convertible bonds, and the remaining 658 BTC will be gradually liquidated.

Sequans' maximum holding was 3,234 BTC, and it once claimed to hold over 3,000 for the long term. But this "long term" didn't even last a year. The company's stock SQNS has fallen 77% this year and 97% over the past five years.

This story begins on June 23, 2025. On that day, Cory Klippsten, CEO of Swan Bitcoin, was still hyping up Sequans as a leader in the corporate Bitcoin reserve track. Eighteen days earlier, the NYSE issued a delisting warning — the company's market value and shareholders' equity both fell below the $50 million threshold. At that time, SQNS stock was $23.40, now it opened at $3.98.

CEO Georges Karam was confident at the time, saying $BTC is a quality asset with long-term investment value. They chose Swan Bitcoin as the executor, Coinbase Prime for custody, and enlisted Northland Capital Markets and B. Riley Securities as underwriters, raising $384 million in private placements. Of this, $195 million was from selling American depositary receipts (at $1.40 per share), and the remaining $189 million was from Bitcoin-backed convertible bonds. In other words, from the start, those $BTC were collateralized to creditors.

As of October 3, 2025, Sequans held 3,234 BTC, with an average cost of $116,643 per BTC. By the time of writing, $BTC had fallen to $73,000. A month later, the company sold 970 BTC to repay debt, directly violating the iron law of HODLers. Michael Saylor once said, "Even if you're at the end of the road, don't sell your Bitcoin." Sequans refused to believe it.

Five months later, the plan was completely terminated. The announcement simply stated: "Bitcoin reserve strategy has been terminated." CEO Karam changed his tune, saying this debt repayment was a turning point for the company, and they would now focus entirely on their semiconductor main business. All those claims that $BTC could create long-term value were as if they had never been said.

Three weeks ago, the Q1 financial report revealed the bottom: revenue of $6.1 million, operating loss of $50.5 million. For 2025, net loss was $109.3 million, with $67.4 million of unrealized impairment losses on Bitcoin alone, totaling $145.1 million in losses. Buying high and selling low, millions of dollars went down the drain. They initially hoped that $BTC would enhance resilience and create long-term value for shareholders, but it all failed. Now, SQNS stock has fallen 80% from the start of the plan and 92% from its recent one-year high.

This story tells us: when companies treat Bitcoin as a lifeline, they often end up falling even harder.

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