Key Highlights
- Eightco Holdings (ORBS) locked in $125 million in fresh institutional capital commitments as of March 12, 2026.
- Bitmine (BMNR) is leading the round with $75 million, while ARK Invest and Kraken’s parent company Payward each contributed $25 million.
- Chairman Dan Ives is departing his role; Tom Lee, chairman of Bitmine, will join ORBS’ board of directors.
- The company recently deployed $52.5 million into OpenAI equity and committed $25 million to MrBeast’s Beast Industries.
- Shares of ORBS jumped as high as 22% during Thursday’s morning session, reaching approximately 99 cents.
Eightco Holdings (ORBS) revealed a significant $125 million institutional funding round on March 12, 2026, triggering a sharp rally in its share price with gains exceeding 20% during early market hours.
The financing package features a major $75 million pledge from Bitmine (BMNR), the digital asset firm led by cryptocurrency advocate Tom Lee. Meanwhile, Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management and Payward — Kraken’s corporate parent — have each pledged $25 million to the effort.
Shares climbed to 99 cents during Thursday’s trading session, representing approximately a 22% increase. This marks a significant recovery for a stock that had previously plummeted over 90% in recent trading periods.
The newly raised funds will support ORBS’ expansion into artificial intelligence, blockchain technology infrastructure, and consumer-facing digital platforms.
Accompanying the capital raise, Dan Ives is relinquishing his chairman position. Ives, a prominent technology analyst at Wedbush Securities, assumed the chairman role just last September. Tom Lee will now occupy a board seat at ORBS.
Brett Winton, who holds the title of Chief Futurist at ARK Invest, has been appointed as an advisory member to the board.
In his official statement, Ives praised the incoming leadership as “the perfect team” to advance the company’s strategic vision.
Barron’s featured a detailed cover investigation in late January exploring potential conflicts of interest stemming from Ives’s dual responsibilities as both ORBS chairman and a Wedbush sell-side analyst. Wedbush Securities has not issued any public comments regarding Thursday’s developments.
Recent Capital Deployments in OpenAI and Beast Industries
Prior to Thursday’s funding announcement, ORBS had already begun actively deploying capital into strategic opportunities. The company invested approximately $52.5 million on March 6 to secure economic rights in OpenAI equity.
Three days later, on March 10, the firm announced a roughly $25 million commitment to Beast Industries — the business entity backing content creator MrBeast — with $7 million scheduled for funding within a 60-day window.
Additionally, ORBS maintains investment positions in Worldcoin, the digital currency project co-created by OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman, along with holdings in Ethereum.
Company executives characterized the OpenAI and Beast Industries transactions as “initial strategic investments,” indicating additional deals may be forthcoming.
Market Outlook and Analyst Perspectives
The latest analyst assessment for ORBS maintains a Hold rating, accompanied by a $1.50 price objective.
The company currently trades with a market capitalization near $160 million, while maintaining average daily trading volume of roughly 4.6 million shares.
With its recent funding and investment initiatives, ORBS has established simultaneous exposure across OpenAI, Beast Industries, Worldcoin, and Ethereum ecosystems.
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