ETHZilla Makes $12M Bet on Plane Engines to Supercharge Tokenization Revolution

Forget NFTs of bored apes—ETHZilla just dropped a cool $12 million on something with real thrust: two physical aircraft engines. This isn't digital art; it's a hard asset play aimed at proving tokenization can handle the heavy machinery of global finance.

The Multi-Million Dollar Collateral

The move signals a massive pivot from speculative crypto assets to tangible, income-generating industrial equipment. By anchoring its tokenization push to engines that power actual flights, ETHZilla is building a bridge between blockchain's promise and the trillion-dollar world of real-world assets (RWA). It's a direct challenge to traditional finance's paper-based ownership systems—cutting out layers of intermediaries and paperwork in one swoop.

Engine-Powered Liquidity

Tokenizing these engines transforms them from illiquid capital sinks into divisible, tradeable digital assets. Imagine fractional ownership of a jet engine's lease revenue stream, accessible 24/7 on a blockchain. It bypasses the traditional gates of private equity and institutional funds, offering a new model for asset-backed financing. Of course, Wall Street veterans might scoff, calling it a costly publicity stunt in a sector that's perfected the art of making fees on fees.

The runway for asset tokenization just got a lot longer. ETHZilla isn't just buying engines; it's attempting to fuel an entire ecosystem. Whether this $12 million bet soars or sputters will test if blockchain's utility can truly lift the weight of the physical world.

ETHZilla enters the aerospace engine lease market

As seen in the agreement, the final amount also included deposits and adjustments, setting the economic closing date for September 30 last year. Since the engines were already under lease to another airline at the time of acquisition, those lease agreements were assigned to ETHZilla. 

The engines are subject to Aircraft Engine Lease Agreements with a large airline operator. Airlines frequently lease spare engines to avoid disruptions if an aircraft’s primary engine requires maintenance or unexpected replacement.

This leasing model has become a specialized financial niche dominated by firms that own engines outright and lease them to carriers worldwide. Some of the firms in this market include AerCap, Willis Lease Finance Corporation, and SMBC Aero Engine Lease.

According to the International Air Transport Association, the global aerospace industry is currently facing a significant shortage of engines. The IATA has warned that airlines will be forced to spend about $2.6 billion in 2025 alone to lease more spare engines to keep their business running.

TechSci’s market research, cited in ETHZilla’s submission with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), shows the aircraft engine leasing market could grow by a compound annual growth rate of 5.68%, from $11.17 billion in 2025 to $15.56 billion by 2031.

In connection with the purchase, ETHZilla entered into a Servicing Agreement with Aero Engine Solutions. The two entities agreed to let the servicer manage the engines throughout the duration of their existing leases. The arrangement also includes a monthly servicing fee and a set of reciprocal purchase options following lease expiration or early termination.

ETHZilla has the option, but not the obligation, to call upon the servicer or a related party to purchase either of the engines at the end of the lease. It also applies upon early termination of the lease of a particular engine if that engine meets the conditions of this contract for $3 million per engine.

The servicer also holds a mirrored right to require ETHZilla to sell either engine for $3 million per engine under the same conditions. ETHZilla noted that the description of the Purchase Agreement is subject to and qualified entirely by the full agreement filed as an exhibit.

Company diversifies RWA tokenization through aerospace

In last year’s commentary, Rudisill told investors that the company would “initially focus on aerospace assets such as aircraft engines and airframes to tokenize.” He also mentioned that members of ETHZilla’s board have “relationships within the aerospace industry” being used to source assets, so there was no need for external partnerships.

Today we are launching our updated website to better reflect our mission – modernizing capital markets through real-world asset tokenizationhttps://t.co/QvGkqgccDg pic.twitter.com/DuXJgWoFAR

— ETHZilla (@ETHZilla_ETHZ) January 21, 2026

ETHZilla had also acquired a 15% stake in home lending service provider Zippy, aiming to tokenize loans as tradable instruments in line with SEC regulations. It also took a stake in auto finance platform Karus, with similar plans to bring vehicle-related loans on-chain.

Although it currently holds $198.5 million in ETH, ETHZilla sold $40 million worth of Ether in October to fund a stock buyback program and another $74.5 million in ETH to redeem outstanding debt last month. Its shares surged above $100 in August during the peak of the crypto-linked equity rally, but they have since dropped 95% to close at $5.24 on Friday, according to Google Finance data.

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