BTCS, a Nasdaq-listed company that holds ether and farms DeFi yield, told investors in its 10-Q that it owed about $64.1 million on Aave on 9 Nov, including accrued interest. The loan is backed by 46,676 ETH, and the company says it has sold ether for less than it paid to manage its collateral levels. CoinDesk reported the same figures on Friday.

The rundown

  • What changed: The filing says ether sales were made at prices “below their original cost basis” while managing collateral and “health factors” on its DeFi borrowing. It does not say how much was sold or how much of its realised losses came from those sales. BTCS reported no liquidations through 11 Nov.
  • By the numbers: On 9 Nov the collateral was worth $99.3 million at $2,127 per ETH, about 155% of the debt. BTCS says Aave counts roughly 80% of ETH towards borrowing power. Our arithmetic from those inputs puts liquidation at about $1,717 per ETH ($64.1 million divided by 46,676 x 0.8). Kraken showed ETH at $1,950 at 10:43 UTC, so the line sits about 12% below the market, and the health factor is near 1.14, down from 1.24 at the filing’s price.
  • Why it matters: An Aave health factor is the ratio of discounted collateral to debt. Below 1.0, the protocol can sell collateral automatically, with no phone call. BTCS had borrowed about $152.4 million in stablecoins since the start of 2025 and repaid about $89.4 million, and the filing puts variable rates at roughly 6.5% on USDT and 4.5% on GHO.
  • Where it breaks: Cash was about $463,000 at 30 Sep, so the company’s buffers are mostly the same ether that backs the loan. The filing says BTCS can add collateral or repay debt, and it reports $142.6 million of cash, stablecoins and liquid digital assets in total on 9 Nov. Its position may have changed since then, and a sharp ETH move could outrun any manual top-up.

This is a sign of how thin treasury-company borrowing can get when the asset falls, not a prediction that BTCS will be liquidated. The same pooled-risk logic runs through LlamaRisk’s plan to move $1.33 billion of collateral off Aave V3 Core and Aave’s market freeze after the Binance exploit.

Read the borrowing note in BTCS’s 10-Q.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice.