ETHZilla expands DeFi play with $47m ETH deployment on Puffer

ETHZilla Corporation, a publicly traded company focused on Ethereum as a treasury asset and eyeing strategies around its decentralized finance ecosystem, plans to deploy $47 million in Ether to liquid restaking protocol Puffer.

Nasdaq-listed ETHZilla, one of the aggressive crypto treasury companies focused on Ethereum, revealed the expected $47 million deployment in an announcement on September 25, 2025.

The company’s plan is to tap Puffer, a liquid restaking protocol, for a decentralized finance strategy that will deliver higher yield on the Ether tokens that ETHZilla holds as part of its treasury haul. Puffer’s restaking solution will help ETHZilla not only generate higher yield but also boost the platform’s validator ecosystem.

Approximately 10,600 Ethereum (ETH) worth roughly $47 million is targeted for this initiative, the Nasdaq-listed firm noted.

“This collaboration advances our strategy of generating meaningful cash flow from Ethereum and demonstrates ETHZilla’s leadership in deploying capital into cutting-edge infrastructure that supports long-term growth,” said McAndrew Rudisill, chairman and chief executive officer of ETHZilla. 

A boost to Ethereum’s restaking

ETHZilla recently raised a further $350 million to buy ETH, and also reported the repurchase of 0.5 million of its shares at 2.41 each. The company has so far managed a total 6.45 million in stock buyback.

The move to deploy ETH on Puffer for restaking aims at enhancing the company’s cash flow from its treasury bet. Collaboration also bolsters institutional participation in Ethereum’s restaking ecosystem. Notably, ETHZilla recently unveiled a $100 million restaking bet via EtherFi.

Per DeFiLlama, Ethereum currently has more than $224 billion in total value locked in DeFi protocols, with top players including Aave, Lido, and EigenLayer. Puffer Finance’s TVL is around $171 million, while PUFFER, the token native to the Puffer restaking ecosystem, has a market cap of around $37 million.

Token prices and TVL have dropped sharply in the past year, but Puffer is gaining traction amid its vertical crypto infrastructure, and its liquid restaking token is crucial for capital efficiency. Puffer also offers UniFi, an Ethereum layer-2–based rollup for composability, and Preconf AVS for sub-second transaction confirmation.