[Sumpter]

The Bitcoin treasury playbook depends on shares trading at a premium to the underlying Bitcoin. The premium allows companies to issue new stock, buy more Bitcoin, and repeat.

When it works, it’s a perpetual money printer. When it doesn’t, companies face a stark choice: get delisted or dilute shareholders into oblivion.

That’s the choice Sequans Communications, a Paris chip maker turned Bitcoin treasury firm, faced when it announced on Thursday that it’s consolidating every 10 shares into one to avoid getting kicked off the NYSE.

That’s the first time a Bitcoin treasury has made such a defensive action due to poor stock performance.