Eightco Holdings has quietly become the largest public holder of Worldcoin (WLD), disclosing a concentrated $326 million position that transforms the Nasdaq-listed company into a high-beta play on Sam Altman’s controversial identity project and the broader AI ecosystem.
In a PR Newswire filing, Eightco said its treasury now includes 277,222,975 WLD tokens — about 10% of Worldcoin’s circulating supply — valued at an indicative ~$0.28 per WLD based on Coinbase prices at the time of disclosure. That stake alone accounts for the bulk of the company’s marked-to-market assets.
The company’s disclosure also detailed a broader digital-asset and cash mix: 11,068 ETH, roughly $109 million in cash and stablecoins, an indirect $90 million investment in OpenAI via private vehicles, and a $25 million position in Beast Industries. Eightco described itself as “the largest public market participant in the Worldcoin ecosystem,” positioning the WLD bet alongside other AI and infrastructure exposures.
Chairman Dan Ives framed the strategy as a deliberate move to sit at the center of the AI and digital-identity boom linked to Sam Altman’s projects. “We believe the global AI revolution is still in its early innings, and Eightco is strategically positioning itself at the center of this transformation,” Ives said, noting the company’s focus on “authentication and trust infrastructure” across consumer, enterprise and gaming use cases.
Worldcoin’s price has retraced significantly from earlier highs and is trading well below $1 — recent ranges show WLD around $0.27–$0.32 and a market capitalization under $1 billion. That pricing makes Eightco’s 277 million-token exposure a highly concentrated, high-beta wager: big upside if the token’s identity-use case and AI narrative gain traction, but substantial downside if token economics sour or regulatory scrutiny intensifies.
Eightco has previously raised hundreds of millions in private placements to fund its Worldcoin treasury strategy and related investments, signaling investor appetite for backing a balance sheet built around a single experimental protocol. For shareholders, the company’s equity now acts as a levered proxy on Worldcoin’s future — and, by extension, on the success of proof-of-humanity systems and the broader AI projects tied to them.
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