Key Highlights
- Peter Thiel and his Founders Fund fully exit ETHZilla as the firm pivots from crypto hoarding to real-world tokenized assets.
- ETHZilla sells millions in ETH to repay debt, showing strategic treasury management amid volatile crypto markets.
- The Eurus Aero Token lets investors own income from jet engines, making institutional assets accessible via blockchain.
Billionaire investor Peter Thiel and his venture capital firm Founders Fund have fully exited ETHZilla Corp., signaling a major shift for the Ethereum-focused treasury firm.
According to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Thiel’s entities now hold zero shares, a complete move away from a 7.5% stake reported last August. The move is part of ETHZilla’s rapid shift from digital asset accumulation to tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), which is a result of market volatility.
ETHZilla, founded in Palm Beach, Florida, started by replicating Michael Saylor’s bitcoin-centric strategy, accumulating a peak of over 100,000 ETH. However, the company was experiencing liquidity issues as the markets reached their peak in early October.
The company sold $40 million worth of ETH for buybacks, followed by another $74.5 million in December to pay off debt from convertible notes. As a result, the company was able to meet its senior secured convertible notes obligation.
ETHZilla’s strategic shift
ETHZilla recently created a new branch, ETHZilla Aerospace, to let investors get a piece of leased jet engines through tokenized assets. Their Eurus Aero Token I allows people to own a fraction of the income generated by these engines, which was normally accessible to only big institutional investors.
Each token is backed by two CFM56 commercial jet engines worth around $12.2 million. Tokens sold for $100 each, with a minimum purchase of 10, and aim to deliver an 11% return over the lease period.
“This transaction represents an important step in our mission to bring real-world, income-generating assets on-chain at an institutional level,” said McAndrew Rudisill, ETHZilla CEO. This is an indication of how blockchain technology can be used to increase the availability of alternative assets while still ensuring that the necessary protections are in place.
The departure of Thiel from ETHZilla and the company’s decision to focus on tokenized jet engines shows crypto industry is changing its approach. Investors can now invest in real assets that generate income, which was previously not possible.
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