The agreement requires Zippy to conduct all blockchain infrastructure, digital asset issuance, and tokenization through ETHZilla's platforms.
Crypto News
Former biotech company ETHZilla has completed its second acquisition in a week, taking a 15% stake in digital housing lender Zippy to bring manufactured-home loans on-chain.
ETHZilla will pay $5 million in cash and $16.1 million in stock for the stake in Zippy, a U.S.-based lender founded in 2021 that originates manufactured-home loans through a digital platform. The companies plan to link Zippy's loan-origination and AI-powered systems with ETHZilla's tokenization stack for on-chain distribution of manufactured-home chattel loans, including potential forward-flow sales to institutional investors.
The transaction gives ETHZilla a board seat at Zippy and secures a 36-month exclusivity period. The agreement requires Zippy to conduct all blockchain infrastructure, digital asset issuance, and tokenization through ETHZilla's platforms. The deal marks ETHZilla's push into real-world asset markets following its pivot from biotech.
The announcement comes one week after ETHZilla acquired a 20% fully diluted stake in auto-finance startup Karus for $10 million in cash and stock. ETHZilla, which holds Ethereum as a treasury asset, said the investment builds on its broader push into RWA markets. The company's stock price was down around 10% at the time of writing, according to Yahoo Finance data.
Several public companies that adopted Ethereum as a balance-sheet asset this year have seen sharp share-price reversals as the token price has fallen from its peak. ETHZilla, formerly 180 Life Sciences Corp, announced its pivot to an Ethereum treasury company on July 29. Its stock climbed from a $45 open that day to a $107 close by Aug. 13, but has since declined roughly 91% to trade around $10.
SharpLink Gaming launched an Ethereum treasury strategy in May alongside a $425 million private placement that included Consensys as an investor. The move coincided with the nomination of Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin as chairman. The company's stock climbed more than 130% on the news to $79.21 on May 29 but has since dropped sharply to trade around $11.77 on Wednesday, according to Yahoo Finance data.
Bitmine Immersion, an Ethereum treasury company led by Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee, has also struggled in recent months. Its stock hit an all-time high of $135 in July but has since fallen to around $40. Komodo Platform chief technology officer Kadan Stadelmann told Cointelegraph in August that companies adopting Ethereum treasury strategies face structural risks, warning that a downturn could force liquidations and amplify selling pressure on the token.
Ethereum has fallen from its all-time high of $4,946.05 on Aug. 24 and now trades at $3,365. The decline in Ethereum's price has directly impacted treasury companies' stock valuations, creating a correlation between cryptocurrency market performance and equity prices for firms holding digital assets on their balance sheets.
