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 it has changed its name to “Forum Markets” and will operate under the name “Forum,” symbolizing a strategic shift toward “tangible 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 more than 13% on Wednesday, reaching a high of approximately $3.91, a nearly one-month high.

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 the Nasdaq Capital Market starting March 2.

ETHZilla was formerly a poorly performing biotech stock, 180 Life Sciences. Last year, it successfully raised $565 million and received investment from Silicon Valley venture capital legend Peter Thiel. The company then pivoted to a strategy of holding Ethereum reserves, once accumulating over 100,000 ETH at its peak.

Despite the recent crypto market rebound, 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 it heavily bought ETH in August last year. Additionally, Peter Thiel was recently revealed to have liquidated all his holdings. Once a stock that surged past $100 due to “whale support,” ETHZilla is now undergoing a painful valuation correction and strategic realignment.

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

Entering 2026, ETHZilla has accelerated its transition toward “tangible 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 has 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.