EASTON, Pa., July 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Eightco Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ORBS) said it participated in World Foundation’s $52.5 million funding round and provided an updated breakdown of its treasury holdings, which the company said totaled approximately $391 million as of July 26, 2026.

The company said its treasury composition as of July 26 included a $90 million indirect investment in OpenAI equity through special purpose vehicles, an $18 million funded investment in Beast Industries equity, a $1 million investment in Mythical Games, 16,278 Ethereum (ETH), 301,971,219 Worldcoin (WLD), and approximately $142 million in total cash and stablecoins. Eightco said the WLD valuation was based on a price of $0.36 per WLD, per Coinbase, as of July 26, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The breakdown is central to Eightco’s investment story because much of the stated treasury value is tied to digital assets and private-company exposure rather than operating revenue. That makes the company’s disclosed holdings, valuation sources, and risk factors important context for readers evaluating how ORBS differs from a conventional operating company.

Eightco said the update highlights its exposure to digital assets and strategic investments in private technology companies, including OpenAI and Beast Industries. The company also noted that OpenAI recently announced it had submitted a confidential S-1, positioning itself for a potential future initial public offering.

On July 24, 2026, World Foundation announced a $52.5 million funding round led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Bain Capital Crypto, Eightco, Selini Capital, Susquehanna Crypto, and additional investors. World Foundation also marked the three-year anniversary of World Network’s production launch. According to the announcement, more than 39 million people have joined World Network, more than 18 million humans have been verified by an Orb, and the network has used more than 475 million World ID proofs since launch.

“Clearly, the world is getting close to very powerful AI,” Sam Altman said recently. “We care more about humans than we care about AI. And we are so hardwired to care about people that I’m not afraid for the future as long as we can tell. World ID is our effort at that, and it’s been amazing to see the progress over the last year as people have adopted this and figured out how to integrate this into a new world.”

Tom Lee, a board member of Eightco, said the reduction in WLD token issuance began on July 24. “The reduction in the WLD token issuance, which started on July 24, cuts incremental supply by half. This should substantially improve the net supply/demand balance for WLD and thus, supports the argument for improved risk/reward in prices,” Lee said.

Recent developments cited by Eightco

Eightco management said it believes the company’s treasury portfolio includes components it views as important to the future AI and digital financial system. The company cited several recent developments connected to Worldcoin, OpenAI, blockchain infrastructure, and AI.

On July 21, asset manager Grayscale was reported to have filed with the SEC to launch the first U.S. ETF tied to Worldcoin, according to Decrypt.

Also on July 21, OpenAI announced the launch of its ChatGPT for small businesses program, an initiative designed to help small businesses improve productivity and scale their operations using ChatGPT, according to OpenAI.

Franklin Templeton Digital Assets published a July 21 white paper authored by Sandy Kaul titled “Agentic AI—The Killer Use Case for Blockchain and Crypto.” The white paper suggested that blockchains will facilitate machine-to-machine transactions and will be critical to the deployment of widespread agentic AI services. Eightco said this aligns with its conviction that WorldID sits at the center of the interaction between AI and blockchain.

On July 22, OpenAI was reported to be planning a data center in Georgia with 3.2 gigawatts of power to be delivered in phases from 2028 to 2032, according to Axios.

On July 24, 2026, World’s token issuance schedule reached a milestone described in the original World white paper. The network’s largest three-year token unlock period concluded, reducing the number of WLD entering circulation each day by approximately 43%, from about 5.1 million tokens to about 2.9 million tokens. Eightco said it currently holds 301,971,219 WLD, representing approximately 8% of circulating supply and the largest publicly disclosed WLD position in the world. WLD will continue entering circulation at roughly half the previous daily rate, materially slowing the growth of overall supply, according to World.

Eightco’s stated focus areas

Eightco said its strategy is built around three mega-trends it expects to shape the next decade of innovation: artificial intelligence, digital identity, and the creator economy. The company said it has exposure to those areas through its indirect investment in OpenAI, which represents 23% of ORBS treasury holdings; its Worldcoin position, which represents 28%; and its Beast Industries investment, which represents 5%.

Artificial intelligence: OpenAI

Eightco said it has invested approximately $90 million in special purpose vehicles with exposure to equity interests in OpenAI’s parent company. The company said the position represents approximately 23% of treasury assets and is one of the highest disclosed concentrations of any listed vehicle.

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s consumer application, is the No. 1 consumer AI app worldwide, according to Sensor Tower. Eightco also cited reporting that ChatGPT crossed 900 million weekly active users in February 2026, making it the fastest-scaling consumer technology in history, according to UBS via Reuters.

Digital identity: WLD token

Eightco said it holds nearly 302 million WLD, or approximately 8% of circulating supply, describing the position as the largest publicly disclosed institutional position globally. The company said the holding accounts for approximately 28% of Eightco’s treasury assets.

Worldcoin is the native token of World, a global Proof of Human network built by Tools for Humanity, which was co-founded by Sam Altman and Alex Blania, and stewarded by the World Foundation. World’s Orb devices issue a privacy-preserving World ID designed to verify that a user is a unique human rather than an AI agent.

Under World’s announced business model, applications pay per-verification fees while end-user verification remains free. Both credential issuers and the World protocol monetize verified-human authentication. Eightco said World identifies a $6.35 trillion combined addressable revenue opportunity across 13 industries, including banking, e-commerce, gaming, social media, and agentic AI, per Tools for Humanity.

Creator economy: Beast Industries

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

Beast Industries operates what Eightco described as one of the largest direct-to-consumer reach footprints in the world, with a combined follower base of more than 500 million across platforms. The company said the footprint is anchored by MrBeast, whom it described as the most-watched person on YouTube globally. Eightco said that as AI commoditizes content production, distribution and audience trust become increasingly scarce assets.

Company profile and additional information

Eightco Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ORBS) is a publicly traded company pursuing what it describes as a first-of-its-kind Worldcoin (WLD) treasury strategy. The company said it provides single-ticker indirect exposure to 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.

Eightco said it is backed by institutional investors including Bitmine Immersion Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BMNR), MOZAYYX, World Foundation, CoinFund, Discovery Capital Management, FalconX, Payward/Kraken, Pantera, and GSR. The company said it is building the infrastructure layer for human verification in the agentic AI era.

For more information, Eightco listed its X account as @iamhuman_orbs and its website as 8co.holdings.

Frequently asked questions

Eightco said ORBS stock refers to Eightco Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ORBS), a publicly traded company on Nasdaq. The company said ORBS provides indirect exposure to OpenAI and Beast Industries.

On Worldcoin ownership, Eightco said it holds nearly 302 million WLD, approximately 8% of circulating supply, and described the position as the largest publicly disclosed institutional position globally.

The company defined Proof of Human as cryptographic verification that a user is a unique, living person rather than a bot or AI agent. Eightco said it is foundational infrastructure for social networks, banking, agentic commerce, and any system requiring “one person, one account” in the agentic AI era.

Eightco said its relationship to Proof of Human comes through its status as the largest publicly disclosed institutional holder of Worldcoin (WLD), the token powering World’s Proof of Human network.

Kevin O’Donnell is 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). Brett Winton, chief futurist at ARK Invest, serves as an advisor to the board.

Forward-looking statements

Eightco said the press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. It said all statements other than statements of historical fact could be deemed forward-looking, including statements regarding the company’s expectations that artificial intelligence, digital identity, and the creator economy will shape the next decade of innovation; its belief that its treasury portfolio holds some of the most critical components for the future AI and digital financial system; anticipated improvement in WLD net supply and demand balance and risk and reward in prices following the reduction in token issuance; statements that blockchains will facilitate machine-to-machine transactions and will be critical to widespread agentic AI services; the company’s conviction that WorldID sits at the center of the interaction between AI and blockchain; World’s addressable revenue opportunity of $6.35 trillion across industries including banking, e-commerce, gaming, social media, and agentic AI; the expected reduction in WLD token issuance after July 24, 2026, including the reduction from approximately 5.1 million tokens to approximately 2.9 million tokens daily; statements that the company holds the largest publicly disclosed WLD position globally; statements that distribution and audience trust become increasingly scarce assets as AI commoditizes content production; statements about the company building the infrastructure layer for human verification in the agentic AI era; statements regarding indirect exposure through investments in OpenAI, WLD, and Beast Industries; statements that OpenAI submitted a confidential S-1 for a potential future IPO; and statements about future phases of OpenAI’s Georgia data center project from 2028 to 2032.

The company said 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 similar words and expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain those terms.

Eightco said 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 because of factors including 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 strategic investments, including its indirect OpenAI equity position held through special purpose vehicles, its WLD position, and its Beast Industries equity position; the company’s ability to maintain compliance with Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements; unexpected costs, charges, or expenses that reduce capital resources or delay capital deployment; inability to raise adequate capital to fund or scale business operations or strategic investments; volatility in digital asset prices, including WLD and ETH; regulatory changes, future legislation, and rulemaking that negatively affect 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 about the pace and trajectory of agentic AI deployment in enterprise and consumer applications; uncertainty about OpenAI’s product roadmap, business model developments, and the timing or success of any IPO; risks related to Beast Industries’ ability to achieve 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 concentrated positions in certain digital assets and private company investments; shifting public and governmental positions on digital assets or artificial-intelligence-related industries; risks that WLD supply dynamics may not result in anticipated market effects; risks related to World Foundation’s funding, development, and ability to scale its network and business model; and risks associated with the timing and completion of OpenAI’s planned data center projects.

The company cautioned readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. It referred readers to Eightco’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risk factors and other disclosures in its Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 15, 2026, and other publicly available SEC filings. Eightco said all information in the release is as of the date of the release and that it undertakes no duty to update the information or publicly announce revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect actual results or changes in expectations.