Nakamoto pushes part of its 165 million USDT Kraken loan to 2027 as Bitcoin falls

Nakamoto, a Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin company whose largest asset is the Bitcoin it holds, has pushed back the repayment of part of a loan from the crypto exchange Kraken by a year, so that none of the 165 million USDT it owes falls due in 2026. The company announced the change on Thursday, November 12, 2026, as Bitcoin fell to its lowest price since August.

What changed in the loan

The amendment was signed on November 11 between Nakamoto Holdings, a subsidiary, and Payward Interactive, the Kraken company that is the lender, according to a Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. USDT is the dollar stablecoin issued by Tether, so the loan is in effect a debt of about $165 million.

"This amendment extends our runway and makes our collateral position more resilient," Chief Investment Officer Tyler Evans said in the company's press release.

The second change concerns collateral. The loan is secured by Bitcoin, and Nakamoto also holds Bitcoin options in an account pledged to Kraken. Under the new terms the net value of those positions, but never less than zero, counts toward the collateral, the company said.

How the loan compares with the company's Bitcoin and market value

The Bitcoin and loan figures in this section come from Nakamoto's quarterly report for the period ended September 30, filed on November 12. The share price, market value and collateral calculation are from CoinDesk.

Nakamoto's shares closed at $5.79 on Thursday, valuing the company at about $104 million, less than the loan, CoinDesk reported. The 18,346,473 shares the company reported outstanding on November 9 would put the figure nearer $106 million, by our calculation. On September 30, 3,030 of its 4,283 Bitcoin were pledged as collateral for the loan, and digital assets made up $357.9 million of its $517.2 million of total assets, the quarterly report shows. That left 1,253 Bitcoin unpledged at the end of September. If the pledged amount has not changed since then, those coins are worth roughly $208 million with Bitcoin under $69,000, about 126% of the amount owed, by CoinDesk's calculation. If the value of the collateral falls below a set level, Nakamoto has to repay part of the loan, pledge more Bitcoin or both, the outlet said.

The master loan agreement is dated December 3, 2025, according to the quarterly report. On June 5, 2026, Nakamoto repaid 45 million USDT, cutting the principal from 210 million USDT to 165 million USDT, after selling about 600 Bitcoin and some Bitcoin derivative contracts, the report says. The loan fee is 7.75% a year while the company keeps at least 2,000 Bitcoin in its trading wallet at Kraken and 8% otherwise. CoinDesk reported that the loan began at $210 million.

Why it matters

Other listed companies with large Bitcoin holdings have also been in the news as the price has fallen. On Friday, November 13, Bitcoin dropped below $70,000. On November 9 the miner MARA said it had sold 13,597 Bitcoin and repaid its Bitcoin-backed loans since the end of September, and on November 11 index provider MSCI said it would remove Strategy from its USA Index.

A loan secured by Bitcoin carries a specific risk: when the price falls, the lender can require more collateral or repayment at the moment the borrower's assets are worth least.

What it could mean for traders

In our assessment, the amendment removes a repayment that was three weeks away and buys the company time; it does not reduce the debt. What matters from here is the distance between the Bitcoin price and the level at which Kraken can demand more collateral. Neither the press release, the Form 8-K nor CoinDesk's report states that level. Nakamoto is also the parent of Bitcoin Magazine, a publication we sometimes cite; it is not a source for this article.