Cointime

Download App
iOS & Android

Genius Group liquidates Bitcoin treasury to pay $8.5M of debt

Validated Individual Expert

AI-powered Bitcoin treasury and education company Genius Group revealed on Tuesday that it sold the remainder of its Bitcoin in Q1 to pay off debt, adding to a recent wave of companies offloading assets amid a crypto bear market. 

“The company will recommence building its Bitcoin Treasury when it believes market conditions are more favorable,” it stated. 

The move appears to go against its “Bitcoin first” strategy, which it touted in November 2024, vowing at the time to commit 90% or more of its current and future reserves to be held in Bitcoin. 

Genius Group held 84 BTC worth around $5.7 million as of March 2026, but holdings have declined since April 2025, around the time it was temporarily barred by a US court from expanding its Bitcoin treasury. It resumed buying in June of that year.

The recent announcement came as Genius Group reported strong results in Q1, with revenue up 171% year-on-year to $3.3 million and gross profit up 228% to $2 million. The company swung from a $500,000 operating loss in Q1 2025 to a $2.7 million net profit in Q1 2026.

  Genius Group BTC holdings have now fallen to zero. Source: Bitcoin Treasuries


Bitcoin treasuries liquidating in 2026 

Genius Group is not the only Bitcoin-related company to offload assets in recent months. 

MARA Holdings sold 15,133 BTC for around $1.1 billion in March, dropping its treasury to 38,689 BTC and down to the third largest corporate Bitcoin treasury, behind Twenty One Capital. 

The proceeds were used to repurchase approximately $1 billion of convertible senior notes and the remainder for general corporate purposes. 

Meanwhile, mining company Bitdeer liquidated its entire stash of 943 BTC and sold newly mined coins, cutting corporate holdings to zero in February.

Other notable recent sales include Bitcoin miner Cango Inc., which sold 4,451 BTC, and AI tech firm GD Culture Group, confirming authorization of the sale of some of its 7,500 BTC treasury in February. 

Stalwart Strategy keeps on buying 

Michael Saylor’s Strategy, the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin treasury, has bucked the trend and has continued buying Bitcoin, dominating purchases this year.

“Strip out Strategy, and the rest of the ecosystem’s buying pace has collapsed,” reported BTC mining analytics outlet BitcoinMiningStock in March.

The firm’s last purchase was 1,031 BTC on March 23, and it has accumulated 89,581 BTC worth around $6.1 billion at current market prices so far this year, according to the Saylor Tracker. 

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently. Read our Editorial Policyhttps://cointelegraph.com/editorial-policy

Comments

All Comments

Recommended for you

  • US Spot Ethereum ETF Sees Net Inflow of $14.98 Million Yesterday

    On October 22, according to monitoring by Trader T, the US spot Ethereum ETF recorded a net inflow of $14.98 million yesterday.

  • Sonic to Transfer 13 Million S Tokens via Strategic OTC Agreement in Next 24 to 48 Hours

    On October 22, Sonic announced on the X platform that approximately 13 million S tokens will be transferred in the next 24 to 48 hours under a strategic over-the-counter (OTC) agreement. The counterparty is a long-term partner of Sonic, and both parties will collaborate to expand Sonic's reach and enhance user engagement through the partner's network.

  • Bank of Korea Maintains Interest Rate as Expected

    On October 22, the Bank of Korea kept the policy interest rate unchanged at 3%, in line with market expectations. Previously, South Korea raised interest rates in consecutive meetings in July and August.

  • U.S. Treasury Secretary Becerra: GENIUS Act Establishes Federal Regulatory Framework for Stablecoin Payments

    U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Becerra stated that the GENIUS Act is a milestone in the American financial sector, further solidifying the U.S. position as a global cryptocurrency hub. He compared the bill to the National Currency Act signed by President Lincoln in 1863, asserting that it establishes a federal regulatory framework for stablecoin payments in the digital age. Becerra also mentioned that the final rules issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) will facilitate the implementation of the bill, providing a clear and pragmatic institutional foundation for private sector innovation, market competition, and maintaining U.S. leadership in the digital asset space.

  • Kalshi to Support Crypto Asset-Backed Loans for Perpetual Futures Margin

    Prediction market platform Kalshi has reached a new arrangement with crypto asset custodian BitGo, allowing certain clients to use their custodial crypto assets as collateral for loans, which will be used for margin in leveraged perpetual futures trading on the Kalshi exchange. This arrangement is aimed at clients of Kalshi Prime, a futures commission merchant registered in the U.S. It employs a tri-party collateral management structure. Loans will be provided by its affiliated lending company, Kalshi Katalyst, with collateral assets held at BitGo Bank & Trust. Eligible collateral assets include Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins deemed compliant with the GENIUS Act, with plans to integrate additional custodians in the future.

  • Serious Security Vulnerability Discovered in PHP, Leading to Mass Shutdown of Government Websites in Europe

    On October 21, due to the discovery of serious security vulnerabilities in the widely used PHP programming language, multiple government websites across Europe and other regions were forced offline on Wednesday, prompting website operators to take urgent measures to protect system security. The PHP development team announced on Tuesday that two severe security flaws had been identified and urged users to update immediately after the release of the fix. On Wednesday, the PHP team confirmed that a new version addressing the vulnerabilities had been officially released. However, reports indicated that hackers were exploiting these vulnerabilities to breach websites, leading government agencies in countries such as the Netherlands and Finland to proactively shut down some sites before the patch was made available. PHP is one of the most widely used programming languages on the internet, supporting website platforms such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, and Magento. According to website technology statistics agency W3Techs, approximately 75% of websites that can identify their programming language use PHP. About 43% of websites globally are powered by WordPress, covering blogs, small business sites, government portals, e-commerce platforms, and news websites. This security incident has resulted in widespread disruptions to websites across multiple European countries, including the Port of Rotterdam, the government portal Overheid.nl, the Royal Netherlands Football Association, the websites of the country's five major political parties, and several hospital websites, all of which have been temporarily shut down.

  • US Stock Indices Open Slightly Higher; SpaceX Soars 8% After Earnings

    The three major US stock indices opened slightly higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.20%, the S&P 500 up 0.29%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.71%. SpaceX opened 8% higher, reporting third-quarter revenue of $14.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 161%. Elon Musk stated that the annual recurring revenue (ARR) is expected to reach between $500 billion and $1 trillion by the end of 2027. Among other popular stocks, Nvidia rose 2.15%, Apple increased 0.09%, Google (Class A) fell 1.28%, Microsoft decreased 0.56%, Amazon was up 0.01%, TSMC rose 1.95%, SpaceX climbed 7.8%, Meta increased 0.24%, Broadcom rose 0.8%, Tesla was up 2.98%, SK Hynix increased 4.11%, Micron Technology rose 3.31%, AMD was up 2.25%, ASML increased 2.83%, Intel rose 2.01%, Cisco increased 0.67%, Oracle was up 1.55%, Dell Technologies (Class C) rose 7.81%, and ARM increased 2.78%.

  • ZEC Surpasses $1300

    Market data shows that ZEC has surpassed $1300, currently priced at $1315.68, with a 24-hour increase of 14.89%. Due to significant market fluctuations, please ensure proper risk management.

  • OpenAI to Launch on Google Cloud: Cutting-Edge Models like GPT-6 Astra and Codex Code Intelligence Available on Google Cloud

    On October 21, the two companies announced that in the coming weeks, OpenAI will offer its cutting-edge AI models and Codex code intelligence services through Google Cloud. This move deepens the collaboration between these two competitors and highlights how major cloud service providers are becoming important distribution channels for top AI models. According to a corporate blog announcement, this partnership will integrate OpenAI's latest models, including GPT-6 Astra, into Google Cloud's Model Garden. Customers will be able to purchase these models on the Google Cloud Marketplace and settle using their existing cloud service procurement credits. OpenAI aims to promote its models to a broader range of enterprise customers.

  • Zelensky: Willing to Reach Peace Agreement While Retaining Control of At Least 75% of Territory

    On October 21, Ukrainian President Zelensky stated in an interview that Ukraine could reach a peace agreement while retaining control of at least 75% of its territory. When asked by the host whether he would be willing to accept a peace agreement that would freeze the situation as it is, with Ukraine still holding 75% or more of its land, Zelensky responded affirmatively, stating, "Now we must freeze (the front lines), this is a practical way to end this war." (CCTV News)