Fold, Empery Digital and Nakamoto add Bitcoin as loan calls risk forced sales

Public companies that pledged Bitcoin to lenders are learning a hard lesson: when the price drops, the margin calls come fast.

Three firms have already been forced to act this year. Fold received a formal collateral-maintenance notice in February and posted 50 BTC. Empery Digital added 576 BTC after its loan crossed the call level. Nakamoto posted 688 BTC to satisfy maintenance requirements.

None of the companies CryptoSlate reviewed reported a lender selling pledged Bitcoin. But the risk is no longer theoretical.

Fold’s case is the clearest. The company got a formal demand on Feb. 5 after Bitcoin fell below the threshold in its loan agreement. It met the requirement within the notification period. At March 31, Fold had $20 million outstanding and 430 BTC pledged. By June, it sold about $45 million of Bitcoin at roughly $71,000 and repaid the full $20 million – a company-directed move, not a forced liquidation.

Empery Digital’s filing uses softer language. Its Two Prime facility fell below the collateral-call level on Feb. 4, prompting the 576 BTC top-up. Six days later, Empery renegotiated the loan. The new terms slashed the initial collateral ratio from 250% to 174%, the call level from 175% to 153%, and the liquidation level from 150% to 143%. At March 31, Empery had $45 million outstanding and 1,096 BTC pledged. Its July update still showed $45 million of debt after a voluntary $10 million repayment, but did not disclose a new pledged-Bitcoin figure. The company also sold 1,400 BTC since May 7 at an average of $62,200, leaving it with 1,514 BTC and $73.9 million in cash – again, a company-directed treasury decision.

Nakamoto disclosed a similar pressure point. On Feb. 5, it posted 688 additional BTC to satisfy maintenance requirements on a $210 million USDT loan.

All this comes as Bitcoin trades between $61,988 and $64,207 on July 14 – down 19–23% over the past 60 days. No filing currently shows a 12- or 24-hour response clock running. But another threshold breach could turn a routine market move into an immediate liquidity decision.

The mechanism is simple: once a company pledges Bitcoin as collateral, lenders measure it against loan ratios. If the price falls enough, the borrower must post more coins, pay down debt, or risk the lender selling within hours. That clock is the one to watch.