Peter Thiel has abandoned ship. The tech billionaire’s venture capital firm Founders Fund has completely divested from ETHZilla, according to SEC filings dated February 17, 2026. Every last one of their 11.59 million shares—gone. Zero. Zilch. This marks a full exit from the 7.5% stake Thiel held as of August 2025.
ETHZilla, formerly a biotech company called 180 Life Sciences, reinvented itself as a cryptocurrency player last August. They raised a cool $425 million in private placement funds to buy Ethereum tokens. Sound familiar? It’s basically the MicroStrategy playbook, except with Ethereum instead of Bitcoin. At its peak, the company was sitting on more than 100,000 ETH.
From biotech to crypto: ETHZilla’s MicroStrategy-style gamble on 100,000 ETH tokens after a $425 million raise
Thiel’s involvement initially sent ETHZ stock soaring nearly 200%. Those were the good days. Now? The stock has crashed 97% from its peak of $174, trading at a measly $3.50 as of mid-February. His exit has coincided with Ethereum trading at $2,017 in February 2026. The departure occurred at the end of 2025, representing a significant shift in investor confidence. When news of Thiel’s exit broke, the stock dropped another 8% in a single day. Ouch.
The company’s been bleeding Ethereum too. They sold $40 million worth in October 2025, then another $74.5 million in December. All to repay debt. Their ETH holdings have shrunk from over 100,000 to approximately 93,790 tokens, currently worth about $186.5 million.
October’s “Black Friday” crypto crash didn’t help matters. Ethereum’s been especially volatile lately, performing worse than Bitcoin. Investors seeking to avoid such volatility might benefit from adopting sector-based diversification strategies for better risk management. And now Thiel’s exit is being read as a major vote of no confidence.
ETHZilla’s trying to pivot, of course. They launched ETHZilla Aerospace this month to provide tokenized exposure to leased jet engines. They’re also buying home loan portfolios to tokenize on some Layer 2 network. Because when your Ethereum treasury strategy fails, the obvious solution is… jet engines and home loans?
Markets are watching closely. When billionaires flee, regular investors tend to follow. For ETHZilla, Thiel’s departure might just be the beginning of their troubles.
