- Bastion Trading has suspended its participation in SkyAI’s planned transaction until management discloses detailed execution data on its recent Solana sales.
- Discrepancies emerged after SkyAI’s Form 8-K showed only about 600,000 $SOL remaining, contrasting with earlier statements indicating a larger treasury position following a nearly one million token liquidation.
- Bastion is demanding that SkyAI raise its tender offer buyback price from $3.00 to at least $3.50 per share and exclude warrants tied to the CIO’s brother from the program.
Bastion Trading Freezes Participation Over Undisclosed Token Sales
Institutional trading and investment firm Bastion Trading has formally halted its involvement in an impending transaction involving SkyAI, citing an absence of transparency regarding recent market executions. According to market reports, Bastion views the transactions conducted over recent weeks as a fundamental departure from SkyAI’s original digital asset reserve strategy.
The dispute centers on major shifts in SkyAI’s treasury holdings. In mid-September, SkyAI management stated that it maintained a position valued at approximately $207 million under an active custody policy in Solana. However, on October 11, 2026, SkyAI revealed it had sold off nearly one million tokens, claiming at the time that it still retained a comparable amount on its balance sheet.
Investor scrutiny intensified the following day after SkyAI submitted a regulatory Form 8-K filing. The documentation revealed that the actual remaining reserve had dropped to roughly 600,000 $SOL, contradicting earlier assumptions about the company’s retained reserves. In response, public statements from Bastion demanded that SkyAI management immediately provide full transparency, including the precise sale dates, total volumes offloaded, realized execution prices, and the specific internal committees that sanctioned the liquidation.
Disputes Over Buyback Valuation and Governance Concerns
SkyAI’s liquidations were tied directly to an aggressive capital return strategy. The company planned to deploy the proceeds from the token sales to finance a tender offer program worth nearly $200 million, aimed at repurchasing up to 95% of its outstanding common shares and warrants at an initial purchase price of $3.00 per share.
Bastion has strongly contested this valuation, arguing that the existing $3.00 offer disadvantages minority shareholders. According to Bastion’s assessment, the minimum fair compensation must be adjusted upward to at least $3.50 per share to accurately capture the capital accumulated through the asset divestments.
Beyond valuation figures, Bastion has raised serious concerns regarding internal corporate governance and potential conflicts of interest within SkyAI’s leadership. Specifically, the investment firm has called for the complete exclusion from the buyback initiative of warrants allocated to an entity connected to the brother of SkyAI’s Chief Investment Officer (CIO).
Escalating Board Friction and Corporate Friction
The confrontation between SkyAI leadership and its shareholder base has been brewing since the end of the third quarter of 2026. At the company’s annual general meeting in September, all five members of the board of directors received a majority of votes against their reelection. Despite the vote of no confidence, all five directors retained their positions because SkyAI’s corporate bylaws lacked an operative removal mechanism for such an outcome.
Why This Matters
The confrontation between Bastion Trading and SkyAI underscores the growing governance and compliance challenges public entities face when actively managing large-scale cryptocurrency treasuries. As digital asset reserves increasingly impact corporate valuations, institutional investors are demanding the same rigorous disclosure standards, fiduciary accountability, and transaction reporting expected in traditional equity markets.
The upcoming critical milestone centers on the formal opening of the tender offer acceptance period. At that stage, SkyAI’s board of directors must formally address the audit requirements, transactional disclosure requests, and increased share price demands put forward by its primary institutional stakeholders.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Bastion Trading freeze its involvement with SkyAI?
Bastion Trading suspended its participation because SkyAI conducted major Solana token sales without providing transparent execution data, representing what Bastion considers a fundamental departure from the original digital asset reserve strategy.
What discrepancies were discovered in SkyAI’s Solana holdings?
While SkyAI initially indicated it held a position comparable to the nearly one million tokens liquidated on October 11, 2026, a subsequent Form 8-K regulatory filing revealed that only around 600,000 $SOL remained on its balance sheet.
What changes is Bastion Trading demanding for the tender offer?
Bastion is demanding that SkyAI increase the tender offer purchase price from $3.00 to at least $3.50 per common share, provide full audit details on the asset sales, and disqualify warrants held by an entity linked to the CIO’s brother from participating in the buyback.
