Empery Digital | Crypto

The investment marks Empery’s latest push into AI infrastructure as the company shifts capital away from its Bitcoin treasury strategy. Empery Digital said it invested $20 million in Cardinal Data Power, acquiring an approximately 8% stake in the private developer of powered data center campuses. The investment was part of Cardinal Data Power’s approximately $70 million Series A financing and will support development of a 750-megawatt data center campus in West Texas. The project is expected to deliver its first power in 2027, expand to about 1 gigawatt by 2029 and eventually exceed 5 gigawatts. Cardinal develops powered data center campuses for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing workloads. The company said it combines power generation, natural gas supply and electrical infrastructure to accelerate development of large-scale computing sites. Read more

The sales come months after a major Empery shareholder demanded the firm ditch its Bitcoin treasury strategy and force the resignation of its CEO and board. Shares in Bitcoin treasury company Empery Digital rose on Friday after the firm disclosed it had sold nearly half its Bitcoin holdings to fund an AI data center project and pay down debt. Empery Digital (EMPD) shares popped 4.2% to $3.95 within the first 35 minutes of trading on Friday after the company revealed that it sold 1,400 Bitcoin (BTC) at an average of $62,200 a coin for roughly $87.1 million over the past two months.  Empery, which previously operated as an electric powersports vehicle manufacturer, said some of the proceeds funded its 25% stake in a Hunt Properties-affiliated venture, which is acquiring an industrial site to be converted into an AI data center. Another $10 million was also used to pay off outstanding debt. Read more

A 9.8% shareholder has doubled down on calls for Empery Digital to sell its BTC holdings, return capital to investors and remove its CEO and board. A major shareholder in Empery Digital has called on the company to abandon its Bitcoin-centric strategy, sell its digital asset holdings and return the proceeds to investors, along with demanding the resignation of the CEO and the entire board of directors. In a letter to the company’s board on Monday, Tice P. Brown, who is the beneficial owner of roughly 9.8% of Empery Digital’s outstanding shares, accused management of entrenching themselves at shareholders’ expense.  Brown said that Empery Digital’s leadership privately approached him on Feb. 18 with an offer to repurchase all of his shares at a price equal to 100% of their market net asset value (mNAV), which he called “a large premium to prevailing market valuations.” He declined the proposal, saying it was designed to preserve management’s positions rather than return capital to shareholders. Read more