Life Sciences Company 180 Pivots to Ethereum Strategy with $425M Funding Round

180 Life Sciences Corp., a Nasdaq-listed biotechnology company trading under the ticker ATNF, has announced a business pivot toward cryptocurrency with a $425 million private placement aimed at building an Ethereum treasury strategy and rebranding as ETHZilla Corporation.

The transaction represents one of the largest corporate pivots from traditional sectors into digital assets, with 180 Life Sciences planning to use proceeds primarily for purchasing Ether (ETH) rather than continuing its previous life sciences operations focusing on developing therapeutics for inflammatory diseases and other medical applications, the company said in a statement .

The private investment in public equity (PIPE) transaction values shares at $2.65 each and includes over 60 institutional and crypto-native investors. Notable participants include prominent venture firms Electric Capital and Polychain Capital, along with founders of major DeFi protocols including Lido co-founder Konstantin Lomashuk, EigenLayer founder Sreeram Kannan, and Compound founder Robert Leshner.

Electric Capital will serve as the company's external asset manager, implementing what the firm describes as a "differentiated, on-chain yield generation program" designed to outperform traditional ETH staking through various strategies including lending and liquidity provisioning.

The funding round is expected to close around August 1, 2025, with the company also planning an additional $150 million debt offering following the PIPE completion.

"The Ethereum network has a market cap over $450 billion today, which exceeds many of the most well-known companies in the world," said McAndrew Rudisill, expected to become chairman at closing, according to the company announcement.

The transformation positions 180 Life Sciences among a growing number of public companies adopting cryptocurrency treasury strategies, though few have undertaken such a complete business model shift. The company's current management team and majority of directors will remain in place despite the operational pivot.

Etherealize, a DeFi platform, will serve as a strategic partner and establish a "DeFi Council" comprising leading protocol builders to advise on treasury management strategies aimed at generating yield while supporting the broader Ethereum ecosystem.

The company emphasized its strategy of collaborating with established Ethereum ecosystem participants as a differentiating factor from other corporate crypto treasury approaches.