Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund Exits ETHZilla as Firm Shifts From ETH Treasury to RWA Tokenization
A Schedule 13G filing shows Peter Thiel and Founders Fund have fully divested their previously disclosed 7.5% stake in ETHZilla (NASDAQ: ETHZ). The disclosure coincided with a near‑7% premarket drop in ETHZilla shares, leaving the stock roughly 97% below its August 2025 $107 peak. Thiel’s stake dated to ETHZilla’s 2025 rebrand and $565 million capital raise to pursue an aggressive corporate Ethereum (ETH) treasury strategy. Since then, ETHZilla partially liquidated holdings — selling roughly $40M in October 2025 and 24,291 ETH in December 2025 — and currently reports holding 69,802 ETH (~$139M), ranking it among the larger corporate ETH treasuries. Facing heavy leverage, market volatility and debt pressures, the company has pivoted away from aggressive ETH accumulation toward tokenizing real‑world assets (RWA). Recent steps include acquiring 95 manufactured/modular home loans (~$4.7M) to tokenize on an Ethereum Layer‑2 with a targeted ~10.36% yield, and buying two CFM56‑7B24 aircraft engines to tokenize via Liquidity.io under “ETHZilla Aerospace.” Management says future value will come from RWA revenue and cash flow while retaining a reduced but material ETH position. Founders Fund’s exit underscores rising institutional caution about high‑leverage ETH treasury models and may reduce confidence in similar corporate ETH strategies. For traders, the move signals potential continued volatility in ETHZilla stock and contributes modestly to institutional demand dynamics for ETH; market effects on Ether’s price are likely limited but negative in the short term if other institutions follow suit.
Bearish
Founders Fund’s full divestment from ETHZilla and the company’s pivot away from aggressive ETH accumulation toward real‑world asset tokenization signal reduced institutional appetite for high‑leverage Ether treasury strategies. In the short term, the filing caused a share price drop in ETHZilla and may prompt additional selling or de‑risking by other institutional holders, exerting downward pressure on demand for ETH as a corporate treasury asset. ETHZilla’s partial ETH sales in late 2025 already reduced its holdings and liquidity needs forced asset liquidations — a pattern that can increase supply into markets during stress periods. While ETH’s overall market is large and diversified (limiting a systemic impact), concentrated exits by prominent funds and weakening confidence in ETH treasury models are likely to be negative for Ether price momentum in the near term. Over the long term, impact is more neutral: if tokenization of RWAs proves profitable and other corporates adopt diversified treasury approaches, institutional ETH demand could stabilize or recover. For traders, expect elevated volatility around corporate disclosures and tokenization milestones, with potential short‑term downside but conditional longer‑term stabilization contingent on successful RWA revenue generation.