Empery sells 1,400 BTC for $87M to fund AI data center investment and pay down debt

Empery Digital has sold nearly half of its Bitcoin holdings since early May, generating about $87.1 million to bolster liquidity, reduce leverage, and support a planned real estate-backed push into AI infrastructure, according to a securities filing released this week. The company sold 1,400 BTC from May 7 onward at an average price of roughly $62,200 per coin, for gross proceeds of approximately $87.1 million. Empery used $10 million of that total to repay outstanding debt on July 7. Management said the bulk of the remaining proceeds is intended for a previously disclosed $65 million transaction to purchase a 25% interest in a private entity pursuing a strategically located facility in the U.S. Midwest that is expected to be converted into an AI data center, subject to completion of a purchase-and-sale agreement. Additional funds are slated for legal expenses related to shareholder litigation referenced in the company's latest quarterly report, along with general corporate needs. As of Thursday, Empery reported holdings of 1,514 BTC valued at about $96.5 million and approximately $73.9 million in cash. The company also disclosed $45 million still outstanding under its debt facility. Empery Digital (EMPD) shares rose about 2% Friday to around $3.87. The stock is up roughly 14% over the past month but down about 15% year to date. The filing highlights a broader shift in how some companies use Bitcoin treasuries: as a source of liquidity to meet traditional financial obligations rather than purely as long-term reserves. A recent high-profile example is MicroStrategy's BTC sales to fund dividend payments tied to preferred share offerings, a strategy that weighed on investor sentiment and pressured both its common and preferred-share prices. Empery did not immediately respond to Decrypt's request for comment on whether the recent sales reflect a longer-term change in treasury strategy. The disclosure did not provide a timeline for closing the property-related transaction or resolving the litigation, and it did not detail the specific legal costs associated with the shareholder lawsuit.