American Bitcoin plunges 23% to $6.52 after 1-for-15 reverse split

Shares of American Bitcoin Corp. (ABTC) tumbled more than 23% to around $6.52 on July 8, the second trading session after the company's 1-for-15 reverse stock split took effect, as the compliance-driven corporate action failed to stabilize the stock.

"The reverse split is a mechanical listing-compliance fix required because ABTC's share price had drifted toward Nasdaq's minimum bid price floor," said Kathleen Kinder, senior editor at CoinLaw. "The same-day pairing with a treasury milestone announcement was a deliberate reframe of a compliance fix as a strength story."

The split, which became effective at 5:00 p.m. on July 2, reduced American Bitcoin's outstanding shares from roughly 1.09 billion to about 73 million. The company disclosed in an SEC filing that the primary purpose was to maintain compliance with Nasdaq's minimum bid price requirement for continued listing. On the split-adjusted debut day of July 6, ABTC shares had risen 14.1%, trading as high as $9.31 on volume above 2.17 million shares — gains that were fully erased in the following session.

American Bitcoin, a majority-owned subsidiary of Hut 8 Corp. launched with backing from Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. in March 2025, disclosed the same week that its Bitcoin reserve had topped 8,000 BTC, worth roughly $512 million. The company's cost per Bitcoin mined fell to $36,200 in the first quarter of 2026, down 23% from $46,900 in the fourth quarter of 2025, even as it posted an $81.8 million net loss driven by a $117.2 million non-cash mark-to-market charge as Bitcoin declined 22% during the period.

The 23% plunge raises questions about whether the reverse split achieved its intended effect. Reverse splits are typically used by low-priced stocks to avoid delisting, but they do not change a company's underlying valuation — they merely compress the share count. American Bitcoin mined 817 BTC and purchased 803 BTC in the first quarter, lifting its holdings to 7,021 BTC as of March 31, before accumulating further to surpass 8,000 BTC by early July. The stock's slide comes as Bitcoin itself trades near $64,000, recovering from a June low around $58,000, with spot ETF flows flipping back positive after a record $4.5 billion in June outflows.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.