{"id":6188,"date":"2025-07-29T18:56:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T18:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/180-life-sciences-bets-425m-on-ethereum-treasury-in-bid-to-become-ethzilla\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T18:56:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T18:56:08","slug":"180-life-sciences-bets-425m-on-ethereum-treasury-in-bid-to-become-ethzilla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/180-life-sciences-bets-425m-on-ethereum-treasury-in-bid-to-become-ethzilla\/","title":{"rendered":"180 Life Sciences bets $425m on Ethereum treasury in bid to become ETHZilla"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-detail__content blocks\">\n<p class=\"is-style-lead\">Palo Alto\u2019s 180 Life Sciences is making a radical pivot, ditching biotech for crypto. With a $425 million private placement backed by Ethereum\u2019s elite, the soon-to-be ETHZilla aims to build the largest corporate ETH treasury, blending DeFi yield strategies with Wall Street appeal.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cn-block-summary-block_a852d2ed203cac06a213bf9852af4688\" class=\"cn-block-summary\">\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__nav tabs\">\n        <span class=\"tabs__item is-selected\">Summary<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__content\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>180 Life Sciences is pivoting from biotech to Ethereum, raising $425M to rebrand as ETHZilla and build a major corporate ETH treasury.<\/li>\n<li>The firm\u2019s strategy emphasizes active DeFi participation, with Electric Capital managing staking, liquidity, and lending operations. <\/li>\n<li>ETHZilla\u2019s pivot reflects a broader trend, as Standard Chartered forecasts corporate ETH treasuries could grow to hold 10% of total ETH supply.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- .cn-block-summary --><\/p>\n<p>According to a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/180-life-sciences-announce-an-upsized-425-million-private-placement-to-establish-an-ether-treasury-reserve-led-by-consortium-of-digital-asset-leaders-to-launch-ethzilla-302516170.html\" target=\"_blank\">press release<\/a> dated July 29, Nasdaq-listed biopharma firm 180 Life Sciences has entered into agreements for a $425 million private placement, with plans to convert nearly all its treasury reserves into Ethereum (ETH) and rebrand as ETHZilla.<\/p>\n<p>The funding round, led by a consortium of crypto heavyweights including Electric Capital, Polychain, and founders of Lido, Eigenlayer, and Compound, is expected to close by August 1. If successful, the move would position ETHZilla among the largest corporate holders of Ethereum, marking a sharp departure from its origins in anti-inflammatory drug research.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>From biotech to blockchain: The ETHZilla playbook<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The pivot appears to be a calculated bet on Ethereum\u2019s dual role as both a store of value and a yield engine. Unlike Bitcoin treasury plays, where accumulation is the endgame, ETHZilla\u2019s strategy hinges on active participation in Ethereum\u2019s financial ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p>Per the statement, Electric Capital, the firm tapped to manage its assets, will deploy a multi-pronged approach: staking for base rewards, liquidity provisioning in DeFi markets, and private lending agreements designed to outperform passive holdings.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cWe believe that this planned strategy reflects a strong, long-term investment approach that can be supported by a highly capable team and a transformative transaction,\u201d said Blair Jordan, CEO of 180 Life Sciences. \u201cWe plan to execute a differentiated investment approach that will be designed to provide a straightforward opportunity for investors to participate in the growth of Ethereum through the public markets.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The roster of backers reads like a who\u2019s who of Ethereum\u2019s builder class: Polychain Capital, Lido co-founder Konstantin Lomashuk, Eigenlayer\u2019s Sreeram Kannan, and Compound\u2019s Robert Leshner are among the 60-plus institutional and crypto-native investors in the $425 million PIPE. Their involvement signals a tacit endorsement of ETHZilla\u2019s thesis that corporate ETH holdings should actively engage with the protocols reshaping finance.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The corporate ETH arms race heats up<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>ETHZilla\u2019s move aligns with a broader trend that has quietly accelerated over the past two months. Standard Chartered\u2019s latest report reveals corporate ETH treasuries now hold <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2025\/07\/29\/ether-treasury-companies-could-own-10percent-of-coin-one-day-says-standard-chartered.html\" target=\"_blank\">1% of circulating supply<\/a>, roughly 1.26 million Ether tokens accumulated since June. According to the bank, this buying spree parallels ETH ETFs\u2019 record inflows, highlighting how new players are pivoting aggressively to the world\u2019s second-largest crypto asset by market cap.<\/p>\n<p>Analyst Geoffrey Kendrick predicts these holdings could increase tenfold, eventually reaching 10% of supply. Firms like BitMine, which is aiming for 5% of ETH\u2019s supply, and Consensys-backed SharpLink Gaming are already deep in the game.<\/p>\n<p>For ETHZilla, the pivot remains a high-stakes experiment, where the risks are as pronounced as the rewards. Besides accumulation supremacy battles, managing on-chain yield requires navigating smart contract vulnerabilities, liquidity crunches, and regulatory gray zones, challenges even DeFi natives struggle with.<\/p>\n<p>Yet if successful, the model could redefine how public companies interact with crypto: not as passive holders, but as active ecosystem participants.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Palo Alto\u2019s 180 Life Sciences is making a radical pivot, ditching biotech for crypto. With a $425 million private placement backed by Ethereum\u2019s elite, the soon-to-be ETHZilla aims to build&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6188"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6189,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6188\/revisions\/6189"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}