This Obscure Fintech Stock Just Exploded 3,800% On A Sam Altman Crypto Play — And Peter Thiel's All In

Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below.

The smallest fish in the crypto pond just became the biggest story on Wall Street on Sept. 8 after Eightco Holdings (NASDAQ: OCTO) rocketed nearly 3,800% after unveiling plans to amass worldcoin cryptocurrency in what amounts to the most audacious corporate treasury pivot since MicroStrategy’s (NASDAQ: MSTR) Bitcoin bet.

The stock catapulted from the Sept. 5 close of $1.45 to $38.10 in explosive trading that saw more than 145 million shares change hands—nearly 30 times the typical daily volume. Now it’s suddenly worth hundreds of millions, all because it decided to bet big on Sam Altman’s controversial iris-scanning cryptocurrency project, according to Reuters.

Don't Miss:

Vacancy Rates Below 5% and $2.3B in Unmet Demand — How Everyday Investors Can Access America's Industrial Boom If there was a new fund backed by Jeff Bezos offering a 7-9% target yield with monthly dividends would you invest in it?

The Peter Thiel Connection That’s Driving This Frenzy

What makes this surge particularly intriguing is the heavyweight backing behind Eightco’s strategy. Peter Thiel’s BitMine (NYSE: BMNR) is pumping $20 million into the deal, lending serious Silicon Valley credibility to what might otherwise be dismissed as a penny stock pump scheme.

BitMine already employs a similar treasury strategy with Ethereum, so Thiel’s involvement suggests this isn’t just speculative fever but a calculated bet on worldcoin’s potential. When one of PayPal’s (NASDAQ: PYPL) co-founders puts real money behind a crypto play, markets take notice.

The mechanics are straightforward but ambitious: Eightco is selling more than 171,000 shares at $1.46 each through a private placement, targeting approximately $250 million in proceeds to buy worldcoin tokens.

Trending: 7 Million Gamers Already Trust Gameflip With Their Digital Assets — Now You Can Own a Stake in the Platform

Why Worldcoin Could Be the Next Corporate Treasury Obsession

Co-founded by OpenAI CEO Altman in 2019, Worldcoin represents one of the crypto industry’s most polarizing experiments. The project aims to create a global identity system by incentivizing people to have their irises scanned in exchange for free cryptocurrency and digital identification.

With a total token value of $2.7 billion, according to CoinGecko data, worldcoin sits in that sweet spot between established credibility and explosive upside potential that corporate treasurers find irresistible. It’s large enough to handle significant institutional buying without creating liquidity issues, yet small enough that major corporate adoption could drive substantial price appreciation.

Story Continues

“The crypto industry has been booming in the U.S., buoyed in part by friendly regulations under the Trump administration,” according to Reuters analysis of current market dynamics. “Small public companies have been widely adding cryptocurrencies to their coffers, mimicking [MicroStrategy CEO] Michael Saylor’s strategy.”

See Also: Backed by $300M+ in Assets and Microsoft's Climate Fund, Farmland LP Opens Vital Farmland III to Accredited Investors

The Treasury Strategy That’s Reshaping Corporate America

Eightco’s move follows the playbook established by MicroStrategy, which has become the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin through aggressive treasury management. That strategy has generated massive shareholder returns as Bitcoin’s price appreciation far exceeded traditional treasury instruments.

The appointment of Daniel Ives, senior equity analyst at Wedbush Securities, as chair adds another layer of legitimacy to Eightco’s transformation. Ives has been one of the most bullish voices on crypto adoption by public companies, making his involvement a strong signal about Worldcoin’s corporate potential.

What’s particularly fascinating is the timing. With crypto markets riding high on regulatory optimism under the current administration, small-cap companies are racing to establish crypto treasury positions before institutional competition drives prices higher. Eightco may have found the perfect storm of regulatory clarity, celebrity backing, and retail investor enthusiasm.

The question now isn’t whether other companies will follow Eightco’s lead—it’s how many and how quickly. For investors, the Eightco explosion represents both the enormous upside potential and extreme volatility risks that define the new corporate crypto playbook.

Read Next: The ECG Hasn't Changed in 100 Years — This AI Upgrade Could Help Detect Heart Disease Years Earlier

Image: Shutterstock

This article This Obscure Fintech Stock Just Exploded 3,800% On A Sam Altman Crypto Play — And Peter Thiel's All In originally appeared on Benzinga.com

View Comments