ETHZilla Buys 20% of AI Lending Platform Karus in $10M Deal to Tokenize Auto Loans

Ether treasury firm ETHZilla announced it purchased a 20% stake in Karus, an AI-driven auto loans platform, for a deal valued at $10 million, consisting of $3 million cash and $7 million in ETHZilla stock. This acquisition marks ETHZilla's entry into the U.S. asset-backed securities market by utilizing blockchain technology to tokenize real-world credit. Karus specializes in AI models that analyze loan risk using extensive historical data. ETHZilla plans to integrate this technology into its Ethereum infrastructure to transform the tokenized loans into tradable on-chain assets, with the first tokenized loan portfolios expected to be available by early 2026. The deal also grants ETHZilla access to Karus's network of over 20,000 U.S. car dealerships, banks, and credit unions.

(Source：CoinDesk)