Simply put
- Eightco has successfully raised $250 million to acquire WorldCoin, and it’s updating its ticker symbol to ORB as part of a new Crypto Treasury strategy.
- Bitmine has backed Eightco with a $20 million investment and is marking this as its first major “Moonshot” venture into WorldCoin.
- Eightco is opting to invest in WorldCoin using Bitcoin or Ethereum, which raises some interesting questions about their overall approach.
Shares of Eightco Holdings Inc. surged more than 3,000% on Monday following an announcement from the company. They intend to establish a Treasury Department focused on WorldCoin, which included a $20 million backing from Crypto Miner Bitmine.
The stock, which closed at $1.43 during pre-market hours on Friday, skyrocketed to $45.08 by the end of the day. At one point, it had spiked to $83.12, reflecting a staggering increase of over 5,000%.
“Everything that the Foundation and Tools for Humanity developed allowed us to reach this point,” remarked Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities. “We honestly believe this space is significantly undervalued compared to the opportunities it presents.”
Eightco also initiated a $250 million private placement to purchase WorldCoin (WLD) tokens, which they describe as a pioneering corporate strategy for a controversial digital identity initiative. A ticker change from Octo to Orbs will occur on September 11, 2025.
Meanwhile, WorldCoin’s value climbed by 49% to hit $1.54 on Monday, marking a seven-month peak, as noted by Coingecko.
Bitmine, which has recently boosted its Ethereum assets to over 2 million (around $9 billion), highlighted its EightCo investment as its first “Moonshot” venture.
Ives, appointed chair of Eightco, stated that the direction is informed by a focus on AI related to digital identity, mentioning WorldCoin’s unique promise. “We see Worldcoin as an investment in high-tech infrastructure, rather than a mere crypto play. It’s all about where AI and crypto intersect,” he added. “If it’s just a token strategy, I want nothing to do with it. The crux of the AI revolution involves authentication and trust, and that’s where the real value lies.”
While the Treasury strategy emphasizes Worldcoin, Eightco has acknowledged plans to hold cash and Ethereum as “secondary reserve assets.” Although Ives expressed strong confidence in the blockchain’s potential, he mentioned that additional cryptocurrencies could be incorporated later.
“We view ourselves as Ethereum’s counterpart, and that’s definitely on the table,” Ives noted. “But our primary focus is Worldcoin.”
WorldCoin, co-founded by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, launched in July 2023 as a digital identity framework. Its total supply amounts to 10 billion tokens. Central to the Worldcoin system is ORB, an iris-scanning device that authenticates users as humans while distributing WLD tokens. The rebranding took place globally in October 2024, following the launch of ORB devices in six major cities: Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, and San Francisco.
The initiative faces scrutiny from regulators and privacy advocates concerning biometric data, but the company maintains that its zero-recognition protocol secures this sensitive information.
Reportedly, WorldCoin has amassed 16 million accounts across more than 45 nations. The token surged by 25% in January after then-President Trump announced a $500 billion AI investment initiative involving OpenAI, Oracle, and Japanese conglomerate SoftBank.
