Peter Thiel-Backed ETHZilla Dumps $74.5M in ETH, Abandons Treasury Strategy – What Went Wrong?

Peter Thiel-backed ETHZilla has begun unwinding a strategy that once placed it among the most aggressive corporate holders of Ethereum (ETH), selling $74.5 million worth of ETH and indicating a clear shift away from a pure crypto treasury model.

In a regulatory filing late Friday, the Nasdaq-listed company said it sold 24,291 ETH at an average price of about $3,068, raising roughly $74.5 million.

The proceeds are being used to redeem outstanding senior secured convertible notes, with early redemptions scheduled for Dec. 24 and Dec. 30.

Following the sale, ETHZilla’s holdings fell to about 69,800 ETH, valued at just over $200 million at current prices.

The company said cash already on its balance sheet would also be used to complete the redemptions.

ETHZilla Retires Its mNAV Tracker, Refocuses on Operations Amid Stock Rout

Alongside the sale, ETHZilla announced it would discontinue its modified net asset value, or mNAV, dashboard, which had been used to track the relationship between its market capitalization and the value of its ETH holdings.

Management said future disclosures would focus on balance sheet updates, revenue growth, and cash flow from its real-world asset tokenization business, marking a shift in messaging and priorities.

Source: ETHZilla

The move comes as ETHZilla’s stock continues to slide. Shares were down about 4% on Monday and have fallen roughly 96% from their August highs, leaving the company trading well below the value of its remaining crypto assets.

Source: Google Finance

The company started its accumulation in late July, but earlier in the fourth quarter, ETHZilla sold another $40 million worth of ETH to fund share repurchases.

However, the stock has continued to weaken, now trading below $7 compared with around $20 when the buyback was announced.

ETHZilla Caught on the Wrong Side of Ethereum’s Cycle

ETHZilla’s retreat reflects broader pressure across the digital asset treasury sector. Many public companies that rushed to add crypto to their balance sheets during the summer rally are now trading at steep discounts to the net asset value of their holdings.

That disconnect has limited their ability to raise fresh capital and, in some cases, forced them to sell crypto to manage debt and liquidity rather than accumulate more.

For ETHZilla, the problem was less about Ethereum itself and more about timing and concentration. The company built most of its ETH position near market cycle highs.

Its largest purchase came on Aug. 12, when it acquired more than 82,000 ETH at an average price of $3,807, committing over $300 million.

Source: CoinGecko

Additional buys later in August were made at even higher prices, pushing the blended cost basis well above long-term support levels. Smaller purchases in September did little to offset that exposure.

When Ethereum reversed, falling more than 28% over the past three months to around $2,980, the strategy quickly moved underwater.

By the time ETHZilla began trimming its holdings in late October, losses were already embedded. The company now faces unrealized losses tied to its earlier accumulation.

Corporate ETH Holdings Face Pressure as Losses Grow – Who Will Survive?

ETHZilla is not alone, as other major Ethereum treasury firms are also under strain.

BitMine Immersion Technologies, the largest corporate holder of ETH, is estimated to be sitting on billions of dollars in unrealized losses but has continued to accumulate and build a staking-focused business.

Source: CoinGecko

SharpLink Gaming, backed by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, remains committed to its ETH strategy despite market pressure, while firms such as Fundamental Global, The Ether Machine, and Quantum Solutions are also holding ETH below their average purchase prices.

At the same time, demand from corporate treasuries has slowed sharply. Data from Bitwise shows companies bought just 370,000 ETH in November, down more than 80% from August’s peak.

Source: DefiLlama

DefiLlama data also points to November as the weakest month of 2025 for digital asset treasury inflows, with Ether seeing net outflows even as Bitcoin treasuries continued to attract capital.