Dan Ives Set to Chair Company Acquiring Worldcoin’s Treasury

In a move signaling growing confidence in the digital identity space, Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives is stepping into a new role as chairman of the board of directors at Eightco Holdings. The company, currently trading on the Nasdaq, is pivoting towards a strategic accumulation of Worldcoin (WLD), the native token of the blockchain underpinning Sam Altman’s Worldcoin project. Worldcoin, developed by the OpenAI CEO, seeks to create a global identity and financial network.

Eightco Holdings announced the appointment of Ives and a concurrent $250 million private placement earmarked for a strategic investment in Worldcoin. The firm anticipates finalizing the placement around September 11th, after which it plans to change its ticker symbol to “ORBS,” reflecting its new focus.

Ives articulated his enthusiasm for the venture, stating, “As someone deeply invested in the AI revolution and the future of technology, I see World as the emerging standard for authentication in a future world shaped by AI. This isn’t just another token strategy.” This statement underscores the belief that Worldcoin’s core technology addresses a fundamental challenge arising from the proliferation of advanced AI – verifying the identity of unique humans.

This shift mirrors a parallel move by Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, who previously assumed the role of chairman at BitMine Immersion Technologies, an Ethereum accumulator, back in June. Since Lee’s involvement, BitMine shares have seen a substantial surge, highlighting the potential for strategic alignment with promising blockchain technologies.

Notably, BitMine also announced a $20 million strategic investment in Eightco, a decision they described as the start of its “Moonshot” strategy, aiming to bolster the Ethereum ecosystem through bold, innovative ideas.

The adoption of crypto treasury strategies by public companies, reminiscent of MicroStrategy’s approach of leveraging debt and equity to build crypto reserves, has gained traction this year, supported by increasing clarity in the regulatory landscape. Companies backed by high-profile figures such as Lee and Peter Thiel, who has invested in Ethereum-focused ventures, have demonstrated resilience amid recent market volatility.

Ives, also the manager of the Dan Ives Wedbush AI Revolution ETF (IVES), suggests the tech sector is poised for a multi-year bull run, further validating the integration of blockchain solutions within broader technological trends. The ETF focuses on software and chips, but the decision to join Worldcoin signals the analyst’s belief that digital identity is poised to take a more prominent role in the AI ecosystem.

Increasingly, firms are exploring a broader spectrum of crypto assets beyond Bitcoin, as they look to gain market dominance. DeFi Development Corp, for example, has concentrated its efforts on gathering Solana’s SOL token. Similarly, CEA Industries, a Canadian company, revealed its purchase plans for Binance Coin (BNB) in July.

Worldcoin is focused on providing a solution for authenticating human identities, particularly in the era of increasingly realistic deepfakes and advanced AI impersonation. This initiative is designed to offer users a “World ID,” allowing for anonymous sign-ins and rewards, aligning to its cryptocurrency rewards program.

In Ives’s assessment, a lack of verifiable human identity presents a limitation for AI’s future growth. He sees a growing convergence between crypto and blockchain, particularly with a focus on human verification in a world where AI-driven robotics plays a more central role. “As the AI infrastructure and [large language models] are built out without true identification and proof of human, it’s a limiting factor in the growth of AI for the coming years.”

Ives’s comments align with those of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, who noted the importance of identity verification in the tokenized asset space. In his annual letter, Fink stated that “tokenized funds” represented on blockchain networks like Ethereum could become as commonplace as ETFs, provided the challenges surrounding identity verification are addressed.

Worldcoin launched in 2023 holds a market capitalization around $1 billion. Market leaders Bitcoin has $2 trillion and Etherum has $518 billion by comparison.