ETHZilla sells $74.5 million of ether in effort to trim debt load

It's the digital asset treasury bubble in reverse as companies once hellbent on accumulating crypto on their balance sheets turn to digital asset sales in an effort to either prop plunging stock prices or reduce outstanding debt.

ETHZilla (ETHZ), a Nasdaq-listed firm focused on building a reserve of the second-largest cryptocurrency, ether $ETH$3,042.57, late Friday said it sold $74.5 million worth of tokens from its treasury. It's the company's second such sale of $ETH holdings.

The funds from this latest sale are intended to redeem outstanding senior secured convertible notes under the terms of an agreement signed earlier this month, according to a Friday regulatory filing.

The company sold 24,291 $ETH at an average price of $3,068, bringing company holdings down to roughly 69,800 $ETH worth more than $200 million.

ETHZ shares were lower by 4% on Monday, and have lost roughly 96% from their August highs.

The latest maneuver underscores the ongoing pressure digital asset treasuries face. Many public firms that raised funds to buy digital assets earlier this year are now trading below the net asset value (NAV) of their holdings as their stock prices have slumped far more than the value of their underlying crypto.

That discount has made it harder, if not impossible, to raise capital to accumulate additional crypto assets, leading some firms to shift to managing liabilities by instead dipping into their crypto reserves.

ETHZilla earlier in the fourth quarter unloaded $40 million in $ETH , using proceeds then to fund share repurchases. The stock, though has continued to fall, currently trading below $7 versus the $20 area when the October repurchase was announced.

The company said it may continue to raise capital through selling $ETH or equity offerings as it works to advance its business plans.

Read more: BitMine buys $300 million in ether, crossing 4 million $ETH treasury milestone