Peter Thiel, through his Founders Fund, has acquired a 9.1% stake (about 5,094,000 shares) in BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), disclosed via an SEC Schedule 13G filing.
BitMine has aggressively pivoted from Bitcoin mining to building an Ethereum treasury, now holding over 163,000 ETH (worth nearly $500 million), doubling its initial $250M target.
Following Thiel’s stake disclosure, BMNR stock surged — up to 30% intraday, later stabilizing near 20% gains.
The move parallels MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin treasury strategy and signals growing institutional interest in Ethereum as both a financial asset and yield-generating opportunity.
Broader Context: ETHZilla’s Bold Strategic Pivot
180 Life Sciences, a Nasdaq-listed biotech company, is rebranding as ETHZilla Corporation as it transitions into a major Ethereum treasury firm.
The company secured a $425 million PIPE investment led by over 60 institutional and crypto-native investors—including Electric Capital, Polychain Capital, GSR, and founders of Ethereum protocols like Lido and EigenLayer.
Electric Capital will act as the external asset manager, implementing a more dynamic yield strategy, combining staking, lending, and DeFi liquidity provisioning coordinated with a newly formed “DeFi Council”.
ETHZilla plans to use most of the funds to acquire ETH and is also preparing to raise up to $150 million in debt financing to expand its treasury.
This pivot highlights a growing institutional embrace of Ethereum: alongside ETHZilla, firms are committing substantial capital and actively participating in on-chain yield mechanisms.