Abandoning "HODLing" causes the stock price to rise over 13%! ETHZilla rebrands to "Forum" and shifts focus to RWA tokenization

American-listed company ETHZilla (Stock Symbol: ETHZ) officially announced its rebranding to “Forum Markets” and will operate under the name “Forum,” symbolizing a strategic shift toward “real-world asset (RWA) tokenization” and gradually moving away from its original identity as an “Ethereum reserve company.” After the announcement, the company’s stock price rose over 13% on Wednesday, reaching a high of approximately $3.91, the highest in nearly a month.

Forum’s official statement indicated that once approved by Nasdaq, the company’s common stock is expected to begin trading under the new ticker symbol “FRMM” on Nasdaq Capital Market starting March 2.

ETHZilla was formerly a poorly performing biotech stock, 180 Life Sciences. Last year, after successfully raising $565 million and receiving investment from Silicon Valley venture capital legend Peter Thiel, the company pivoted to an Ethereum reserve strategy, once accumulating over 100,000 ETH at its peak.

Despite recent market recovery, with Ethereum rising about 12% in a single day to re-enter the $2,000 range, ETHZilla’s ETH holdings have declined over 50% since its large purchase in August last year. Additionally, Peter Thiel was recently revealed to have liquidated all his holdings. Once driven by “whale support” that pushed ETH above $100, the company is now undergoing a painful valuation correction and strategic realignment.

To ease the substantial convertible debt repayment pressure, ETHZilla sold $40 million worth of ETH in October last year, followed by another sale of $74.5 million worth in December, reflecting a move to reduce exposure to a single cryptocurrency.

Entering 2026, ETHZilla has accelerated its transition toward “real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.” Earlier this month, the company invested $4.7 million to acquire a portfolio of 95 manufactured housing loans, which will be tokenized via Ethereum Layer 2 networks, targeting an annualized return of over 10%.

Moreover, ETHZilla partnered with Liquidity.io, an alternative trading system regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to purchase two CFM56-7B24 aircraft engines used in Boeing 737s for tokenization.

As of now, ETHZilla still holds 69,802 ETH, valued at approximately $145 million, making it the sixth-largest enterprise ETH holder worldwide.