Billionaire Peter Thiel and Founders Fund fully exited ETHZilla (NASDAQ:ETHZ) after riding shares from $107 in August to $3—a 97% collapse that turned a high-profile Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) treasury play into a cautionary tale.
The Spectacular Collapse
Thiel and Founders Fund acquired a 7.5% stake in August 2025 when ETHZilla pivoted from biotech firm 180 Life Sciences to an Ethereum treasury company.
The news sent shares surging 90% in a single session to over $107.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. ETHZilla launched its Ethereum treasury strategy on August 18 following a $565 million capital raise from over 60 investors including Electric Capital, Polychain Capital, and GSR.
At its peak, the company held over 100,000 ETH tokens.
Then the crash hit. When crypto markets collapsed in October, ETHZilla was among the first to sell.
In late October, it dumped approximately $40 million in ETH …