Life Sciences Giant 180 Makes Bold Ethereum Pivot, Secures $425M in Game-Changing Funding

Biotech meets blockchain in a nine-figure power move.

When traditional finance snoozes, Web3 wakes up with a $425M alarm clock.

From pipettes to protocols

The life sciences firm—once all lab coats and petri dishes—just placed its biggest bet yet on Ethereum infrastructure. No gradual transition here: this is a full-scale pivot with VC fuel.

Smart contract or smart gamble?

That $425M war chest could buy a lot of PCR machines—or fund an army of Solidity devs. Wall Street analysts are already sharpening their 'told-you-so' knives, just in case.

One thing's certain: when institutions zig toward AI, 180 just zagged hard into decentralized science. Whether that's visionary or reckless depends which side of the trade you're on.

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.

1/ 10 years ago, ethereum was born to rewrite the rules of programmable finance.

Today, ahead of Ethereum's anniversary, we’re thrilled to introduce ETHZilla, a NASDAQ-listed treasury vehicle for Ethereum, by Ethereum.

It will commence trading under the ticker $ATNF.

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.