ETHZilla Shifts Strategy With Tokenized Jet Engine Offering

Crypto treasury company ETHZilla has launched a token offering access to equity in jet engines that the company acquired last month as part of its pivot into tokenized assets.

ETHZilla said on Thursday that the token, called Eurus Aero Token I, was being launched through its new subsidiary, ETHZilla Aerospace, and is backed by two commercial jet engines that are leased to “a leading US air carrier.”

The company has priced each token at $100, with a minimum purchase of 10 tokens. ETHZilla said it’s targeting an 11% return rate based on holding it for the full term of the engine leases that extend into 2028.

ETHZilla was formerly a clinical-stage biotech company called 180 Life Sciences Corp that pivoted to buying and holding Ether (ETH) in July amid a frenzy of new crypto treasury companies at the time.

ETHZilla chairman and CEO McAndrew Rudisill said the project “expands investment access and modernizes fractional asset ownership in markets that have historically been available only to institutional credit and private equity.”

“Offering a token backed by engines leased to one of the largest and most profitable US airlines serves as a strong use case in applying blockchain infrastructure to aviation assets with contracted cash flows and global investment demand,” he added.

ETHZilla shifting away from crypto treasury

Rudisill said in December ETHZilla is moving away from just buying and holding ETH and aims to build a business that brings assets on-chain through tokenization.

Crypto treasury companies experienced significant growth and hype last year, but enthusiasm has since started to cool across the market.  

ETHZilla purchased the two jet engines for a combined $12.2 million in January, after selling off some of its ETH stash last year.