While ETHZilla sold $114.5 million worth of ETH at the end of 2025, the company has now purchased two aircraft engines. Why such a shift?
After selling ETH, ETHZilla is now buying aircraft engines
Last summer, crypto treasuries, including Ethereum Treasuries Companies, were often in the news, to such an extent that we saw a bidding war between companies, each seeking to make the biggest announcement. Unsurprisingly, the fad has passed, and many of these companies, which were already struggling on the stock market, have been doubly penalized, potentially after some profit-taking by long-standing shareholders. Among these failures is ETHZilla. With nearly 70,000 ETH still valued at just over $200 million, the company has already sold a total of $114.5 million worth of ETH to finance share and bond buybacks.
Now, the company is making headlines with a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday regarding the acquisition of… two aircraft engines:
On January 17, 2026, ETHZilla Corporation, through its new subsidiary ETHZilla Aerospace LLC (the “Company”), acquired two CFM56-7B24 aircraft engines, along with all associated parts, documentation, and engine media, from Avean Engine Solutions, LLC, a subsidiary of Aero Engine Solutions, Inc., pursuant to the terms of an engine sale and purchase agreement dated January 12, 2026. The engines were acquired for a total amount of $12.2 million […]. The Engines are subject to lease agreements with a major airline, as lessee, which were assigned to the Company as part of the acquisition.
In this case, these engines are used by medium-haul airliners, such as certain Boeing 737s. In addition, the contract includes a purchase option of $3 million per engine.
According to our colleagues at CoinDesk, engine leasing is a common practice in the aviation industry, particularly as a quick fix for breakdowns.
In any case, this is above all evidence of a new attempt by the company to get back on track after the hype surrounding Ethereum Treasuries Companies has passed. In fact, since our December 23 article on the sale of 24,291 ETH, ETHZilla’s stock has lost another 17.8% of its value. Since its surge in August, the stock is now down 97%:
Before being renamed ETHZilla, the company was known as 180 Life Sciences, which operated in biotechnology before refocusing its activities on gaming and entertainment. As the divestment of ETH’s cash reserves is finalized, we will likely see another rebranding.
