Key Takeaways
- Shares of ETHZilla (ETHZ) climbed 13% to reach $3.91 following the Forum Markets rebrand announcement
- New ticker symbol “FRMM” expected to debut Monday after Nasdaq gives final approval
- Strategic shift away from cryptocurrency treasury operations toward real-world asset (RWA) tokenization
- Company maintains 69,802 ETH position valued at approximately $145 million, after liquidating over $114 million in Ethereum since October
- Latest RWA initiatives feature $4.7M manufactured home loan portfolio and tokenized aircraft engine assets
Shares of ETHZilla experienced a significant 13% rally on Wednesday following the firm’s announcement that it will adopt the Forum Markets name and abandon its previous Ethereum-focused treasury approach.
The stock finished Wednesday’s session at $3.91, marking its strongest close in approximately four weeks, with after-hours trading showing minimal movement.
Moving forward, the business will operate under the Forum brand. The trading symbol will transition from ETHZ to “FRMM” when markets open Monday morning, contingent upon final Nasdaq regulatory clearance.
According to CEO and chair McAndrew Rudisill, the new identity signals the company’s conviction that future financial infrastructure will center on blockchain-based, institutional-quality products anchored by tangible assets.
This marks the second major identity overhaul for the company in less than a year. Originally operating as biotechnology company 180 Life Sciences, the firm transformed into ETHZilla and began accumulating Ethereum in July 2025.
That cryptocurrency-focused strategy initially propelled shares beyond $107 in August 2025, fueled partly by investment from Peter Thiel and his Founders Fund. At that point, Ethereum was changing hands near $4,950.
The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. ETH has plummeted more than 50% from those peak levels, while ETHZ shares have declined over 20% so far this year.
Founders Fund has completely divested its stake, based on recent Securities and Exchange Commission disclosures.
Liquidating Ethereum to Finance Strategic Transformation
ETHZilla has been systematically downsizing its Ethereum position to bankroll the business model shift. Last October, the company liquidated approximately $40 million in ETH as part of a broader $250 million share buyback initiative.
In December, another 24,291 ETH changed hands—representing roughly $74.5 million in value—to eliminate senior secured convertible debt obligations.
Despite these sales, the firm maintains 69,802 ETH currently valued around $145 million, positioning it among the top corporate Ethereum holders globally.
Company leadership has emphasized that success metrics going forward will focus on revenue generation and cash flow from the RWA platform rather than crypto-centric measures like net asset value premiums.
Advancing Into Tangible Asset Tokenization
Earlier in the month, ETHZilla completed acquisition of a $4.7 million collection comprising 95 manufactured and modular housing loans, slated for tokenization on an Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain. Projected returns exceed 10% annually.
Additionally, the company has secured two CFM56-7B24 aircraft engines currently under lease to a prominent domestic airline. These assets are being tokenized via Liquidity.io, a Securities and Exchange Commission-regulated alternative trading platform.
The aviation-focused token product, branded as Eurus Aero Token I, became available to investors earlier this month.
Ethereum itself posted approximately 12% gains on Wednesday, pushing back above the $2,000 threshold to trade around $2,058 as of this writing.
ETHZilla secured $565 million in capital during 2025 to establish its Ethereum treasury, with initial backing from notable cryptocurrency investors including Thiel. The company’s present ETH holdings total $145 million.
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