Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund Exits ETHZilla as Ether Treasuries Strain

Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund has fully exited Ether treasury company ETHZilla, according to a Tuesday filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

Entities linked to Thiel now report owning zero shares in the company in a 13G amendment filed on Tuesday, after disclosing a 7.5% stake on Aug. 4, 2025. 

At that time, the group beneficially owned 11,592,241 shares of what was then known as 180 Life Sciences Corp., representing 7.5% of the 154,032,084 shares outstanding and worth about $40 million based on trading at around $3.50 per share in early August.

180 Life Sciences rebrands to ETHZilla

180 Life Sciences raised $425 million in July 2025 to launch an Ether treasury strategy and rebrand as ETHZilla. 

The company later moved to raise another $350 million via convertible bonds in September to expand its Ether (ETH) holdings and deploy them across decentralized finance (DeFi) and tokenized assets, at one point holding more than 100,000 Ether.

Related: Bitmine’s staked Ether holdings point to $164M in annual staking revenue

ETHZilla began unloading tokens as markets turned, liquidating 24,291 Ether for $74.5 million in December 2025 at an average price of $3,068.69 per token, to repay debt, leaving about 69,800 ETH on its balance sheet.

Strain on Ether treasury company models

Thiel’s exit is the latest stress signal for public companies with crypto treasuries built around Ether rather than Bitcoin (BTC). 

Other large Ether accumulators are taking different approaches. BitMine Immersion Technologies, the largest listed Ethereum holder, acquired a further 40,613 ETH on Feb. 9, lifting its total holdings to more than 4.325 million ETH, worth about $8.8 billion at current prices.

Trend Research, on the other hand, began unwinding its entire Ethereum position this month, selling 651,757 ETH for about $1.34 billion on Feb. 8, locking in an estimated $747 million realized loss.

ETHZilla has since tried to diversify by launching ETHZilla Aerospace, a subsidiary offering tokenized exposure to leased jet engines. However, Thiel’s exit magnifies how volatile Ether‑heavy treasury strategies have become in a market still digesting last year’s peak.

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