Publicly-traded Ethereum treasury firm ETHZilla has launched a token offering fractional ownership in leased jet engines. Through its subsidiary ETHZilla Aerospace, the firm purchased two engines for $12 million and is offering 30,000 tokens at $100 each via the Arbitrum network. The token targets an 11% return from lease payments to a major airline, with monthly on-chain distributions. This move into real-world asset tokenization comes as ETHZilla and other crypto treasury firms seek new strategies to generate shareholder value amid declining cryptocurrency markets.
ETHZilla has launched a token providing exposure to leased jet engines through a new subsidiary. The firm purchased two commercial jet engines for approximately $12 million and leases them to an unnamed U.S. airline.
ETHZilla Chairman and CEO McAndrew Rudisill stated, “Offering a token backed by engines leased to one of the largest and most profitable U.S. airlines serves as a strong use case in applying blockchain infrastructure to aviation assets with contracted cash flows and global investment demand.” The Eurus Aero Token I is available to accredited investors on the Arbitrum network with a targeted 11% return over the lease term extending to 2028. Monthly cash flows from the engine leases will be distributed to token holders on-chain.
At the time of writing, no orders or token transfers appear to have been made based on data from Arbitrum block explorer, Arbiscan. The firm is also planning to tokenize other assets like manufactured home loans and car loans.
This tokenization effort follows challenges for publicly-traded crypto firms. ETHZilla previously unveiled a $250 million share buyback program and sold $40 million of its Ethereum holdings to repurchase shares. Other firms like BitMine Immersion Technologies have made large investments outside crypto, while SharpLink Gaming has committed to more disciplined capital allocation.
