Dan Ives to become chair of company acquiring Sam Altman-backed Worldcoin

Dan Ives to become chair of company acquiring Sam Altman-backed Worldcoin

Dan Ives, the renowned technology and AI expert and Wall Street analyst, has been appointed as the chairman of Eightco Holdings Inc. (OCTO), a company planning to acquire Worldcoin (WLD) for its treasury operations. This move comes as part of a broader trend of public companies adopting crypto treasury strategies to boost shareholder returns [1].

Eightco Holdings announced a $250 million private placement with an additional $20 million strategic investment from BitMine (BMNR) to initiate World's first Worldcoin treasury strategy. The offering is expected to close on or around September 11, at which point the company's ticker will change to "ORBS" [1].

Dan Ives, known for his bold street calls and his leadership in the Dan Ives Wedbush AI Revolution ETF (IVES), will oversee the acquisition and integration of Worldcoin into Eightco's treasury. Ives sees World as the de facto standard for authentication and identification in the future world of AI, a view that aligns with the mission of World, which aims to authenticate actual humans on its network given the growing threats from AI such as deepfakes [1].

Worldcoin, launched in 2023, has a market cap of about $1 billion, compared to Bitcoin's roughly $2 trillion and Ethereum's $518 billion [1]. The token is part of World, a biometric identity verification startup led by Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI. World provides users with a "World ID" for anonymous sign-ins and rewards them with Worldcoin cryptocurrency.

The move by Eightco Holdings is part of a broader trend where more public companies are adopting crypto treasury strategies. For instance, DeFi Development Corp launched in April with a focus on accumulating Solana's SOL token, and CEA Industries announced a Binance Coin (BNB) accumulation plan in July [1].

The strategic investment by BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) marks the start of their "Moonshot" strategy to back bold ideas that strengthen Ethereum's ecosystem. BitMine's chairman, Thomas ("Tom") Lee, believes that World's unique zero-knowledge Proof of Human credential could be essential to future trust and safety between technology platforms and their billions of human users [1].

In an increasingly AI-driven world, establishing unique and verifiable human identity will become increasingly difficult. What the world needs is a universal foundation for digital identity, and that is what World is building. While today's systems rely on fingerprints, Face ID, and passports, these methods will struggle against a landscape dominated by robots, AGI, bots, and bad actors [1].

References
[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/08/dan-ives-to-become-chair-of-company-that-will-buy-sam-altman-backed-worldcoin-for-its-treasury.html
[2] https://cryptodnes.bg/en/arkham-intelligence-set-to-launch-new-crypto-derivatives-exchange/
[3] https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20250908ny67573/eightco-holdings-inc-octo-announces-250-million-private-placement-with-an-additional-20-million-strategic-investment-from-bitmine-bmnr-to-initiate-worlds-first-worldcoin-wld-treasury-strategy