Peter Thiel has fully exited ETHZilla. A Feb. 17, 2026 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows that Thiel and affiliates of Founders Fund now hold zero shares in the company, leaving them with no voting or decision-making power. Only months earlier, Thiel had disclosed a 7.5% stake, a position that had been read as a strong vote of confidence in Ethereum as a corporate treasury asset.
The exit comes while ETHZilla is trimming its Ethereum balance. The Palm Beach-based company, formerly biotech firm 180 Life Sciences Corp., changed course in August 2025 and built an Ethereum-focused strategy that at one point pushed its holdings above 100,000 ETH. That stance has softened as market conditions deteriorated. The source notes that Ether fell 28.4% in Q4 2025, and ETHZilla sold part of its holdings to meet financial obligations.
Ethereum sales funded buybacks and note repayment
In October, ETHZilla sold $40 million worth of Ether to support a $250 million stock repurchase plan. In December, it carried out a second sale of 24,291 ETH, valued at $74.5 million, with the proceeds used to repay senior secured convertible notes. After those transactions, the company’s Ethereum balance stood at 69,802 ETH, worth about $140 million. That still places ETHZilla among the top 10 public corporate holders of Ethereum.
The company has not abandoned Ethereum entirely. Still, the center of gravity is shifting. Management is putting more weight on assets that can produce ongoing cash flow instead of relying on price appreciation alone.
Strategy now centers on tokenized real-world assets
Alongside the reduction in ETH exposure, ETHZilla has been moving into real-world asset tokenization. The company bought 95 manufactured home loans for $4.7 million and plans to tokenize them on an Ethereum Layer 2 platform. It also acquired two CFM56-7B24 aircraft engines for tokenization through an SEC-regulated platform.
Through ETHZilla Aerospace, the firm plans to give investors exposure to leased jet engines via tokenized structures. Based on the company’s stated direction, the goal is to build revenue from tokenized cash-flow streams and steady income rather than depending only on rises in Ether’s market price.
Thiel’s departure changes the tone around ETHZilla
Thiel’s exit alters the perception of ETHZilla’s original Ethereum-treasury narrative. The company was once cited as a notable example of corporate ETH accumulation; now it is selling assets, redirecting capital, and reworking the business around tokenized yield-bearing holdings. The source also notes that Founders Fund still owns more than 9% of BitMine Immersion, described as the largest corporate Ethereum treasury. That contrast suggests investor interest in Ethereum treasury strategies has not disappeared, but in ETHZilla’s case, shareholder positioning and company strategy are no longer moving in lockstep.