Peter Thiel zeroes out ETHZilla, buying and selling ETH treasury firms has turn out to be much more reasonable
An amended 13G/A posted on ETHZilla's investor web site on February 17 listed Peter Thiel and a Founders Fund-related car with zero shares and 0.0% useful possession.
The appliance additionally consists of an “occasion date” of December 31, 2025, which units the timing body for what the doc captures: a snapshot of useful possession that arrives primarily based on the compliance clock.
Bloomberg reviews that Thiel and his Founders Fund have successfully exited the corporate solely, finishing a easy arc they've been constructing for months.
Again in August 2025, Palantir's founders have been key stakeholders. In our Schedule 13D submitting, we reported 11,592,241 shares and seven.5% useful possession as of the August 4 occasion date. The place has since been decreased. The revised proposal submitted on November 14th reported 928,389 shares as of September thirtieth, or 5.6%.
This sequence turns into much more compelling while you bear in mind what ETHZilla was making an attempt to specific. It's a public market try and bottle up the Technique (previously MicroStrategy) playbook and funnel it into Ethereum, full with a Nasdaq ticker and a Treasury story, geared toward buyers preferring a brokerage over a pockets.
Submitting that turns rumors into numbers
The Feb. 17 modification is the clearest model of a “full exit” the general public market has provided thus far, however shareholders seem to have already priced it in after Thiel's 2025 sale. Since August of final 12 months, ETHZ inventory has fallen 95% from about $74 to only over $3.50.
The corporate was clearly beneath strain past insider promoting. In its January 2026 8-Okay, ETHZilla reported promoting 3,965.83 ETH for $12.58 million at a mean value of $3,173.67, revealing a stability of roughly 65,850 ETH. A month earlier, a a lot bigger sale of roughly $74.5 million in ETH befell, associated to debt pressures and a retreat from pure Treasury stance.
The corporate disclosed in its February 2026 8-Okay that it has redeemed all excellent senior secured convertible notes and paid $516,148,000 in principal, $87,745,000 in redemption premium, and curiosity.
That's the sound of high-priced capital in a market that has begun to cost with out a lot endurance with monetary firm constructions.
All of this matches inside a broader story being shaped throughout classes.
That broader context offers Thiel's 0.0% a distinct form of weight, as crypto finance firms depend on share buybacks and leverage as inventory costs decline.
Macro points, carry appears skinny, funding appears costly
Treasury technique will all the time exist inside macro. Throughout this transient stage of buying and selling, the inventory trades at a premium relative to the underlying cryptocurrency, and the financing fuels and feeds the loop itself. ETH has an extra layer as staking yield and spinoff carry turn out to be inputs to the spreadsheet.
For now, these items of data function a modest cushion.
A public dashboard monitoring ETH futures base reveals annualized carry within the low single digits throughout maturities. Benchmarks for staking yields are additionally across the similar stage, with one index yielding round 2.8% per 12 months.
When carry is skinny, enterprise choices turn out to be extra essential. ETH gross sales are extra essential. The phrases of the mortgage are extra essential. The phrases of the inventory issuance are extra essential. The market then begins to deal with the ticker as an execution determination somewhat than a mere proxy.
Offers with treasury firms are in the end primarily based on the idea that public wrappers can maintain risky belongings and stay steady as markets change. Thiel's departure doesn't clarify why, however it actually flags the top of the timeline.
There are three paths from right here, a quantity indicating which path you might be on.
That is helpful for naming highway junctions and connecting every junction to a small set of observable indicators.
- A technique is to restart the premium loop. ETH stabilizes, danger urge for food returns, and treasury firms regain room to fund development with out shrinking core belongings. Tellurium will present up on tax returns, Treasury deductions will probably be decreased, there will probably be cleaner financing, and the market will as soon as once more be keen to pay for publicity.
- The second path is a reduction lure. The shares commerce at a power low cost to the underlying holdings, and the corporate sells parts of the pile to fund operations, acquisitions and debt repayments. This model progresses slowly and seems as a gentle trickle of “monetary replace” calculations.
- The third cross is reflexive unwinding. The sharp decline in ETH will meet strict funding circumstances, speed up the pressured sell-off, and the inventory will start to behave like a stress gauge. That model will get plenty of headlines and normally leaves a mark on the brief time period that the stability sheet motion is repeated.
You may also use easy numerical frames to maintain the give attention to actuality. ETHZilla revealed that roughly 65,850 ETH stays in January 2026 8-Okay. Earlier disclosure monitoring information 19,301,223 shares excellent, which provides a tough technique to convert ETH worth right into a “per share” instinct.
For two,000 ETH, 65,850 ETH could be roughly $131.7 million in ETH worth. Diversified over 19.3 million shares, ETH is value roughly $6.80 per share earlier than money, debt, working earnings, and different stability sheet objects.
If ETH is $1,500, the tough quantity could be nearer to $5.10. As soon as ETH reaches $3,000, it can rise to round $10.20. The essential factor right here is that sensitivities, small actions in ETH or small modifications in funding circumstances can rapidly change the narrative.
Subsequent factor to notice, breadcrumbs to file so this doesn't turn out to be a one-day meme.
Let's begin together with your ETH stability. The following time ETHZilla updates its numbers in an 8-Okay or periodic report, path and magnitude will probably be essential.
Subsequent, take note of the capital construction. The debt redemption disclosed within the February 2026 8-Okay comes at a hefty premium, and any different financing, fairness issuance, or new structured product would point out what sort of market entry the corporate nonetheless has.
Subsequent, monitor the floor space of your technique. The extra an organization leans into adjoining bets and broader asset themes, the extra the ticker turns into a view on administration's capability to keep up a constant story beneath strain. This pressure can be mirrored within the wording of the corporate's prospectus concerning the sale of shares and shareholders.
Lastly, all the time preserve the macro dial in your sights. It is because it units an higher restrict on how simple this commerce will probably be. Futures foundation curves and staking yield ranges are extra than simply trivia, they straight impression how a treasury agency's technique appears on paper and the way it feels throughout a drawdown.
Many crypto tales finish with ambiance. This ends in a line merchandise, and the road merchandise shows 0.0%. Shields' conviction for this Ethereum Treasury instrument didn't final lengthy, so the query turns into what does he know that different Ethereum buyers don't? Was it poor investor relations with ETHZilla or a broader concern with the enterprise mannequin?
(Tag translation) Featured
