ETHZilla Corporation has acquired a 20% ownership interest in Karus, Inc., an artificial intelligence (AI) company that builds tools for auto finance analytics and lending decisions.
The deal, valued at $10 million, includes $3 million in cash and $7 million in ETHZilla shares. Through this investment, ETHZilla plans to connect Karus’s AI technology to its blockchain system.
This will allow auto loans, analyzed and priced using AI models, to be converted into digital tokens.
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According to ETHZilla’s CEO, McAndrew Rudisill, the partnership brings advanced risk modeling to ETHZilla’s blockchain platform. He noted that Karus’s tools help forecast loan performance, which could improve how loans are structured and traded on-chain.
ETHZilla will also be able to work with Karus’s large network of lenders and auto dealers.
Karus’s AI engine has analyzed more than 20 million past auto loans, using data on credit scores, vehicles, collateral, and market conditions. The company’s system has processed more than $5 billion in auto loan volume.
The first AI-modeled, tokenized loan portfolios are planned for release in early 2026. ETHZilla expects to use Liquidity.io, a platform owned by Satschel, Inc., in which ETHZilla holds a 15% stake, as the exclusive marketplace for trading these assets.
The company estimates that for every $100 million invested in Karus-backed tokens, it could generate between $9 million and $12 million in adjusted EBITDA.
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