Thiel-Backed Whale ETHZilla Dives Into Liquid Restaking, Injecting $100M ETH Into EtherFi

On September 2, 2025, ETHZilla Corporation, a Nasdaq-listed company backed by prominent investors including Peter Thiel, announced a $100 million deployment of its Ethereum reserves into EtherFi, a liquid restaking ￰0￱ decision marks ETHZilla’s first direct integration with DeFi ￰1￱ firm seeks to generate higher yields on its holdings while strengthening Ethereum’s network ￰2￱ Leverages EtherFi to Unlock Yield on ETH Holdings Executive Chairman McAndrew Rudisill described the shift as a “strategic evolution” in treasury management. “By deploying $100 million into liquid restaking, we’re reinforcing Ethereum’s security while unlocking incremental yield opportunities to enhance returns on our treasury ￰3￱ with EtherFi marks a pivotal step in our engagement with DeFi,” Rudisill said in the ￰4￱ ETHZilla news Today, we are excited to announce that we will deploy ~$100 million worth of our ETH holdings into the @ether_fi restaking ￰5￱ marks our first engagement with DeFi protocols but it certainly won't be our last! ￰6￱ — ETHZilla (@ETHZilla_ETHZ) September 2, 2025 The allocation represents a portion of ETHZilla’s 102,246 ETH reserves, valued at approximately $456 million as of August ￰7￱ addition to its crypto holdings, the company maintains $221 million in cash equivalents and has more than 166 million shares ￰8￱ to data from the company’s capital summaries, ETHZilla aggressively expanded its Ethereum position through August, acquiring over 20,000 ETH at an average purchase price of $3,949.

EtherFi, the protocol selected for the investment, offers enhanced yield through restaking, a process that allows staked ETH to be rehypothecated into additional security layers and services beyond Ethereum’s core ￰9￱ Silagadze, founder and CEO of EtherFi, called ETHZilla’s entry a watershed moment. “Their commitment highlights the growing institutional confidence in decentralized protocols and showcases a unique method of bridging traditional finance with the Ethereum ecosystem,” Silagadze ￰10￱ move follows ETHZilla’s rebranding from 180 Life Sciences ￰11￱ late July, when the company pivoted to digital assets and adopted Ethereum as its central treasury ￰12￱ by more than 60 institutional and crypto-native investors, the firm announced plans to raise $425 million through a private investment in public equity (PIPE) deal, supplemented by $150 million in potential debt ￰13￱ from the financing have been earmarked for ETH acquisitions, treasury operations, and transaction costs.

ETHZilla’s treasury strategy is managed in partnership with Electric Capital, which is overseeing an on-chain yield program intended to outperform standard ETH ￰14￱ company has stated that its broader plan involves a mix of lending, liquidity provisioning, and structured agreements, designed to balance yield optimization with risk ￰15￱ Evolves Into Educator and Investor as Ethereum Restaking Gains Traction ETHZilla recently canceled 1.3 million outstanding shares held by Elray Resources in a $1 million settlement, streamlining its capital structure as it deepens its focus on ￰16￱ move follows its broader push to position itself not only as an investor but also as an ￰17￱ “Ethereum School” publishes weekly lessons on monetary policy and staking economics, with recent material emphasizing how Ethereum’s fee burn and issuance model have reduced net annual issuance since the 2022 Merge to just 0.139%, showing its deflationary ￰18￱ ETHZilla's Ethereum School Every Friday, ETHZilla will teach you something that you may not know about Ethereum.

Today's lesson: Ethereum's monetary ￰19￱ doesn't have a supply cap like Bitcoin – instead, it has an issuance cap that ensures long-term… ￰20￱ — ETHZilla (@ETHZilla_ETHZ) August 29, 2025 Meanwhile, liquid restaking continues to grow across the ￰21￱ value locked in Ethereum protocols has climbed to $30 billion , driven by validators shifting away from native ￰22￱ leads the sector in TVL, ahead of Eigenpie by offering users restaking yields via ￰23￱ demand for Ether remains ￰24￱ to SER data , Tom Lee’s BitMine holds about 1.8 million ETH, while Joe Lubin’s SharpLink ranks second with 837,000 ￰25￱ added 39,008 ETH between August 25 and 31 at an average price of $4,531, raising its treasury value to $3.6 billion.