Eightco Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ORBS) has reported total holdings of approximately $380 million as of September 2, 2026, spread across digital assets, cash, and strategic stakes in leading private technology companies, including OpenAI and Beast Industries. The disclosure places Eightco among a small but growing group of publicly traded companies that use their balance sheets to hold digital assets and stakes in private firms, a strategy in which the treasury itself — rather than operating revenue — is the primary driver of shareholder value.

As of September 2, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. ET, ORBS' holdings comprised a $90 million indirect investment in OpenAI through special purpose vehicles (SPVs), an $18 million funded investment in Beast Industries, a $1 million investment in Mythical Games, 301,971,219 Worldcoin (WLD) tokens valued at $0.37 per WLD (per Coinbase), 16,278 Ethereum (ETH), and approximately $122 million in total cash and stablecoins. Because OpenAI is privately held, the SPV structure means Eightco's exposure depends on third-party valuations of those vehicles rather than a market price, a dependency the company itself flags among its disclosed risks.

The Easton, Pennsylvania-based company disclosed the figures in a September 3, 2026 announcement (PRNewswire), highlighting its positioning across digital assets and investments in private technology firms. Over the past month, Eightco repurchased more than 25 million shares of its common stock under its previously announced $125 million share repurchase program. The company had also previously participated in World Foundation's $52.5 million funding round, led by Pantera with participation from Bain Capital Crypto, Selini Capital, Susquehanna Crypto, and additional investors.

Recent Headlines Driving the News

Eightco's management believes the company's treasury portfolio holds some of the most critical components for the future AI and digital financial system. Key developments cited this week include:

• On September 2, World announced it has open-sourced ProveKit, a zero-knowledge identity proving toolkit, making it available to developers outside World. ProveKit is built into World ID and powers the privacy-preserving features that make Proof of Human useful for enterprises, consumer platforms, and developers (World).
• On September 1, SB Energy, an AI power infrastructure company backed by Softbank, OpenAI and Nvidia, filed for a potential IPO. In its initial filing, the company said it is "substantially dependent" on the performance of OpenAI as both a tenant and equity investor in SB Energy (CNBC).
• On September 1, MrBeast released a book co-written with bestselling author James Patterson titled The Most Dangerous Games (HarperCollins).
• On August 31, OpenAI announced that its advertising business, ChatGPT Ads, reached $1 billion in annualized revenue run rate less than 200 days after launch. The platform is now used by tens of thousands of advertisers and continues to expand globally (Axios).
• On August 31, OpenAI announced its support for California Senate Bill 1119 to advance youth AI safety, legislation intended to establish safeguards for how young people use AI while preserving access to tools that can help them learn, create, and prepare for the future (OpenAI).
• On August 21, peaqOS and World ID announced a partnership to enable Proof of Human for robots and machines. A machine can verify that the person in front of it is a real human and the same one who placed the order, without learning a name, a face, or a number (peaq).

Commenting on the developments, Tom Lee, Board Member of ORBS, said: "AI stocks have been under pressure recently, partly a result of backlash against data centers. This seems to be an issue resonating with voters. But despite this setback, AI progress continues at a rapid pace as evidenced by the multiple meaningful announcements in the past week."

"Eightco executed additional share buybacks as the Company has judged that accretively acquiring shares is a high return use of capital," Lee added.

Exposure to Key Mega-Trends

Eightco is built around three mega-trends the company expects to shape the next decade of innovation — artificial intelligence, digital identity, and the creator economy — with positions in each trend through its indirect investment in OpenAI (24% of ORBS' treasury holdings), Worldcoin (29%), and Beast Industries (5%). Together the two largest positions — OpenAI and WLD — account for roughly half of treasury assets, meaning the portfolio's reported value is closely tied to developments at OpenAI and the World network specifically.

Artificial Intelligence — OpenAI

Eightco has invested approximately $90 million in special purpose vehicles with exposure to equity interests in the parent company of OpenAI, representing roughly 24% of treasury assets — one of the highest disclosed concentrations of any listed vehicle.

ChatGPT, OpenAI's consumer app, is the #1 consumer AI app worldwide (Sensor Tower). On July 31, 2026, OpenAI announced that its models now reach more than one billion active users and more than two million businesses (OpenAI). Six months after signing up, people send roughly 50 percent more messages each day and use ChatGPT for about twice as many kinds of work.

Digital Identity — WLD Token

Eightco holds nearly 302 million WLD, approximately 8.3% of circulating supply — the largest publicly disclosed institutional position globally — representing approximately 29% of the Eightco treasury's assets. At the disclosed $0.37 per WLD valuation, the position is marked at roughly $112 million, and its value moves directly with the token's market price on venues such as Coinbase.

Worldcoin is the native token of World, a global Proof of Human network built by Tools for Humanity (co-founded by Sam Altman and Alex Blania) and stewarded by the World Foundation. Its Orb devices issue a privacy-preserving World ID that verifies a user is a unique human, not an AI agent.

Under World's announced business model, applications pay per-verification fees while end-user verification remains free, with both credential issuers and the World protocol monetizing verified-human authentication. World identifies a $6.35 trillion combined addressable revenue opportunity across 13 industries spanning banking, e-commerce, gaming, social media, and agentic AI (per Tools for Humanity).

Creator Economy — Beast Industries

Eightco has invested $18 million in Beast Industries equity, approximately 5% of treasury assets.

Beast Industries operates one of the largest direct-to-consumer reach footprints in the world, with a combined 500 million-plus follower base across platforms, anchored by MrBeast as the most-watched person on YouTube globally. As AI commoditizes content production, distribution and audience trust become increasingly scarce assets, according to the company.

About Eightco Holdings Inc.

Eightco Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ORBS) is a publicly traded company executing a Worldcoin (WLD) treasury strategy, providing investors single-ticker indirect exposure to three trends: artificial intelligence through its indirect investment in OpenAI, digital identity through its position as the largest public holder of WLD and the Proof of Human protocol, and the creator economy through its equity stake in MrBeast's Beast Industries. Backed by leading institutional investors including Bitmine Immersion Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BMNR), MOZAYYX, World Foundation, Discovery Capital Management, FalconX, Payward/Kraken, Pantera, and GSR, Eightco describes itself as building the infrastructure layer for human verification in the agentic AI era.

Kevin O'Donnell is the CEO of Eightco Holdings. The company's Board includes Tom Lee (Managing Partner and Head of Research at Fundstrat, and Chairman of Bitmine Immersion Technologies, NYSE: BMNR), with Brett Winton (Chief Futurist at ARK Invest) serving as an advisor to the Board.

Proof of Human is cryptographic verification that a user is a unique, living person, not a bot or AI agent. It is positioned as foundational infrastructure for social networks, banking, agentic commerce, and any system requiring "one person, one account" in the agentic AI era.

For more information: X: @iamhuman_orbs; Website: 8co.holdings.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact could be deemed forward-looking, including, without limitation, statements regarding: the Company's expectations that artificial intelligence, digital identity, and the creator economy will shape the next decade of innovation; management's belief that the Company's treasury portfolio holds some of the most critical components for the future AI and digital financial system; management's belief that accretively acquiring shares is a high return use of capital; statements that AI progress continues at a rapid pace; statements regarding World's addressable revenue opportunity of $6.35 trillion across industries spanning banking, e-commerce, gaming, social media, and agentic AI; statements that distribution and audience trust become increasingly scarce assets as AI commoditizes content production; statements that the Company is building the infrastructure layer for human verification in the agentic AI era; statements that Proof of Human is foundational infrastructure for social networks, banking, agentic commerce, and systems requiring verified human identity; statements regarding the Company providing indirect exposure to defining trends through its investments in OpenAI, WLD, and Beast Industries; and statements regarding continued share repurchases under the Company's $125 million share repurchase program. Words such as "plans," "expects," "will," "anticipates," "continue," "expand," "advance," "develop," "believes," "guidance," "target," "may," "remain," "project," "outlook," "intend," "estimate," "could," "should," "positioned," "view," and terms of similar meaning are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such terms.

Forward-looking statements are based on management's current beliefs and assumptions, are subject to risks and uncertainties, and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors, including, without limitation: the Company's inability to direct the management or operations of private businesses where it is not a controlling stockholder, including OpenAI and Beast Industries; risk of loss or markdown on the Company's strategic investments, including its indirect position in OpenAI equity (held through special purpose vehicles), its position in WLD, and its position in Beast Industries equity; the Company's ability to maintain compliance with Nasdaq's continued listing requirements; unexpected costs, charges, or expenses that reduce the Company's capital resources or otherwise delay capital deployment; inability to raise adequate capital to fund or scale its business operations or strategic investments; volatility in digital asset prices, including WLD and ETH, which could materially affect the value of the Company's treasury holdings; regulatory changes, future legislation, and rulemaking negatively impacting digital assets, artificial intelligence adoption, or biometric data collection; risks related to the development, adoption, and market acceptance of Proof of Human technology and the World network; uncertainty regarding the pace and trajectory of agentic AI deployment in enterprise and consumer applications; uncertainty regarding OpenAI's product roadmap, business model developments, and any future liquidity events; risks related to Beast Industries' ability to achieve its growth projections; competition in the digital identity and AI infrastructure markets; reliance on third-party sources for the valuation of certain investments; uncertainty regarding MrBeast's continued success and the performance of Beast Industries' creator-driven business model; risks related to the Company's concentrated positions in certain digital assets and private company investments; risks related to the Company's share repurchase program, including the timing, pricing, and amount of any repurchases; shifting public and governmental positions on digital assets or artificial intelligence-related industries, including potential backlash against data centers; risks related to the timing, features, and commercial reception of OpenAI's model releases; risks related to OpenAI's advertising business and its ability to sustain revenue growth; and risks that WLD supply dynamics may not result in anticipated market effects.

Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. For a discussion of other risks and uncertainties and other important factors that could cause Eightco's actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see Eightco's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including the risk factors and other disclosures in its Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 15, 2026, its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on May 15, 2026, and other publicly available SEC filings. All information in this release is as of the date of the release, and Eightco undertakes no duty to update this information or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect actual results or any change in its expectations.