Shares in Eightco Holdings, an e-commerce inventory management platform, rocketed over 3,000% in a day after announcing plans to buy and hold Worldcoin, the cryptocurrency behind Sam Altman’s eye-scanning digital identity project.
Eightco said on Monday that its looking at a share sale targeting gross proceeds of around $250 million to “implement the first-of-its-kind Worldcoin treasury strategy.” The sale comprises a private placement of 171.23 million common shares for $1.46 each.
It added BitMine Immersion Technologies, which has the largest Ether (ETH) holdings among public firms, and has purchased 13.7 million common shares for $20 million.
Eightco is the latest in a series of non-crypto companies that have started stockpiling cryptocurrencies. The trend has sparked some concerns about the health of such firms as the market gets more crowded.
Eightco shares close trading up 3,000%
Shares in Eightco Holdings (OCTO) closed trading on Monday up nearly 3,009% at $45.08, cooling from an intraday high of over $80 but rising from its $1.45 close on Friday.
The stock’s rally cooled slightly after hours, dropping almost 6% to $42.40.
Eightco said its $250 million offering is expected to happen on Thursday with participation from the World Foundation, Kraken and FalconX, among others.
It will use the funds to buy Worldcoin (WLD) as a “primary treasury reserve asset, while continuing its focus on the core business operations.” It may also buy Ether (ETH) as a secondary asset.
It added that it plans to change its ticker symbol on the Nasdaq to “ORBS” that same day, referencing the eyeball-scanning devices used by Worldcoin issuer World Network.
Altman, the co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, founded the project to authenticate humans online, giving them Worldcoin and access to an ecosystem of partner companies in exchange for scanning their eyes.
The project has caught the ire of regulators for violating privacy laws and has seen its operations restricted, suspended and outright banned in some countries.
“If we succeed on our mission, World might become the largest network of real people online, fundamentally changing how we interact and transact throughout the Internet,” Sam Altman said in a statement.
Eightco names Dan Ives as chairman
Eightco said that Dan Ives, the head of tech research at brokerage Wedbush Securities, would join as chairman of the board.
Ives is known for his high-profile takes on the tech industry, claiming in December that the tech sector would be in a bull market for up to three years. He also launched an exchange-traded fund earlier this year tracking companies in the artificial intelligence space.
Related: ARK Invest buys $4.4M in BitMine stock as its treasury crosses 2M ETH
Ives said his appointment marks ”the next step in the AI revolution around authentication and Proof of Human.”
“The future of AI requires World to lead the way in this AI-driven Fourth Industrial Revolution,” he added.
World gains on Eightco’s treasury pivot
Meanwhile, Worldcoin has gained 49.2% in the past 24 hours on Eightco’s treasury plan.
The token is trading at $1.54 and has enjoyed a rally of 80.5% in the past seven days.
Earlier this year, on April 7, Worldcoin sank to an all-time low of around 58 cents, but made a comeback alongside the crypto market. It is, however, down about 87% from its peak of $11.74 in early March 2024.
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