TLDR
- Eightco Holdings (ORBS) secured $125 million in new institutional funding commitments on March 12, 2026.
- The funding is led by $75 million from Bitmine (BMNR), with $25 million each from ARK Invest and Kraken parent Payward.
- Dan Ives is stepping down as chairman; Bitmine chairman Tom Lee is joining the board.
- ORBS invested $52.5 million in OpenAI equity and $25 million in MrBeast’s Beast Industries in early March.
- ORBS stock was up as much as 22% on Thursday morning, trading near 99 cents.
Eightco Holdings (ORBS) announced $125 million in new institutional funding on March 12, 2026, sending its stock up more than 20% in early trading.
The raise is headlined by a $75 million commitment from Bitmine (BMNR), the digital asset company chaired by crypto bull Tom Lee. ARK Investment Management, run by Cathie Wood, and Payward — the parent of crypto exchange Kraken — each committed $25 million.
The stock hit 99 cents in Thursday morning trading, up roughly 22% on the day. That’s a notable rebound for a company whose stock had fallen more than 90% in recent months.
The capital is earmarked to fund ORBS’ push into AI, blockchain infrastructure, and digital consumer platforms.
As part of the transition, Dan Ives is stepping down as chairman. Ives, a widely followed tech analyst at Wedbush, was named chairman only last September. Tom Lee will take a seat on ORBS’ board of directors.
Brett Winton, Chief Futurist at ARK Invest, will serve as a board advisor.
Ives, in a statement, called the new lineup “the perfect team” to take the company’s strategy forward.
In late January, Barron’s published a cover story examining Ives’s overlapping roles and potential conflicts of interest between his chairman position and his work as a sell-side analyst at Wedbush. Wedbush declined to comment on Thursday’s news.
Investments in OpenAI and Beast Industries
Just days before Thursday’s announcement, ORBS had already been putting capital to work. On March 6, the company invested approximately $52.5 million to acquire economic interests in OpenAI equity.
On March 10, it committed roughly $25 million to Beast Industries — the company behind MrBeast — including $7 million in capital to be funded within 60 days.
ORBS also continues to hold positions in Worldcoin, co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Ethereum.
The OpenAI and Beast Industries moves were described as the company’s “initial strategic investments,” suggesting more could follow.
Analyst Sentiment
The most recent analyst rating on ORBS is a Hold, with a price target of $1.50.
ORBS currently carries a market cap of around $160 million, with an average daily trading volume of approximately 4.6 million shares.
The company’s most recent disclosed funding and investment activity positions it across OpenAI, Beast Industries, Worldcoin, and Ethereum simultaneously.
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