ETHZilla Soars 14% as Meme Investor Buys Stake, Pushes Buybacks

Dimitri Semenikhin, known online as ‘Capybara Stocks,’ has rapidly emerged as a formidable force in meme stock investing, drawing comparisons to Keith ‘Roaring Kitty’ Gill of GameStop fame. His most recent success came with Beyond Meat (BYND), where his influence helped drive a staggering 1,000% price spike last week. As the BYND rally cooled, Semenikhin pivoted to ETHZilla (ETHZ), revealing he had accumulated approximately 2.2% of the company’s shares. ‘After the success of my Beyond Meat investment and given the large community that this has created,’ Semenikhin explained, ‘I wanted to showcase to this newly formed community that there are also more risk-averse investments that can be made with asymmetric upside.’

The investor’s thesis centered on what he identified as a significant valuation discrepancy. ‘Treasury bets are really measured by the multiplier they have on their net assets,’ Semenikhin told Decrypt. ‘ETHZilla’s multiplier at the time of my purchase was at an all-time low of 50%, and is even now well below other digital treasuries still, trading at 65-70% of its liquid/cash asset value.’ This steep discount between ETHZilla’s market capitalization and the net value of its assets presented what Semenikhin characterized as an opportunistic investment with substantial upside potential.

Semenikhin’s influence manifested almost immediately through direct corporate action. On Monday, he published an open letter to ETHZilla management arguing that the company had ‘been greatly underutilizing its ability to buy back its shares as part of the already authorized share buyback program.’ He emphasized the abnormality of his ability to build such a large position while the firm traded at such a substantial discount to net asset value, stating plainly: ‘The company should have bought back these shares themselves.’

Less than an hour after Semenikhin’s public pressure, ETHZilla announced it had sold approximately $40 million worth of Ethereum to repurchase shares. Chairman and CEO McAndrew Rudisill confirmed the strategic shift in a statement: ‘We are leveraging the strength of our balance sheet, including reducing our ETH holdings, to execute share repurchases.’ The move came as part of the company’s existing $250 million share buyback program unveiled in August, which was designed to provide value to shareholders but had been underutilized until Semenikhin’s intervention.

The market response was swift and dramatic. ETHZilla shares, which had dipped as low as $12.78 last week, rebounded to $20.65 at Monday’s close and continued climbing to $23.00 in after-hours trading. This represented a 20% gain over the previous five trading days, demonstrating the immediate market confidence in the buyback strategy and Semenikhin’s endorsement.

Before the $40 million ETH sale, ETHZilla ranked as the sixth-largest publicly traded Ethereum treasury firm, holding 102,916 ETH valued at approximately $434 million. Following the transaction, the company maintains a substantial crypto position with around $400 million in Ethereum remaining on its balance sheet. This treasury strength provides ongoing flexibility for additional share repurchases as the company continues to trade below its net asset value.

The recent developments build upon other strategic moves ETHZilla has made to enhance shareholder value. Last week, the company completed a 1-for-10 reverse stock split, a maneuver designed to boost the per-share price and improve accessibility for institutional investors. The firm also counts billionaire Peter Thiel among its significant shareholders, with Thiel and related entities having acquired a 7.5% stake in August that previously drove an earlier stock spike.

Semenikhin’s successful campaign highlights the evolving dynamics between activist investors and crypto-native companies. His ability to quickly mobilize both his growing online following and corporate management demonstrates how traditional activist investing strategies are being adapted to the digital asset space. For ETHZilla, the accelerated buyback program represents a concrete step toward closing the gap between its market valuation and the underlying value of its substantial Ethereum treasury.