Eightco's $125M Buyback: A Bold Bet on a Future of Digital Identity

EASTON, Pa. – December 29, 2025 – Eightco Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ORBS) today announced a decisive move to bolster shareholder value, with its Board of Directors authorizing a substantial share buyback program for up to $125 million of its common stock. The announcement signals immense confidence from the company's leadership in its strategic direction and current market valuation.

In a statement accompanying the release, Chairman Dan Ives framed the decision as a direct reflection of internal belief in the company's trajectory. "Management and the Board believe that based on Eightco's current valuation and its pipeline for additional partnerships, the public stock is becoming an increasingly attractive investment," said Ives. "This buyback program is a strong vote of confidence in Eightco's strategy, and we see this as an opportunity to create meaningful value for shareholders as we execute on our vision."

Eightco, which positions itself as building the "authentication and trust layer for the post-AGI world," is pursuing a multifaceted strategy focused on digital identity. The buyback is being presented as a pivotal step in reinforcing this long-term mission. Chief Executive Officer Kevin O'Donnell added that the decision "sends a clear message about our confidence in Eightco's strategy, execution, and long-term opportunity."

A Vote of Confidence Amidst Financial Headwinds

The $125 million repurchase authorization is a powerful statement, particularly when viewed against the company's recent financial performance and stock volatility. While leadership touts the stock as an "attractive investment," recent filings present a more complex financial narrative. For the third quarter ending September 30, 2025, Eightco reported a net loss of $25.84 million, a stark contrast to the $3.18 million loss in the same period of the prior year. This occurred even as sales for the first nine months of 2025 grew to $22.79 million from $19.3 million year-over-year.

The company’s stock, ORBS, has experienced significant turbulence. Its 52-week trading range has swung dramatically from a low of $0.98 to a high of $83.12, and despite a short-term pop on the buyback news, the stock has depreciated over 32% in the last month. This volatility underscores the high-risk, high-reward nature of the company’s strategic pivot.

Adding another layer of complexity is Eightco's business model. While the press release focuses heavily on its forward-looking digital identity and AI authentication initiatives, a significant portion of its current revenue is derived from its Forever 8 inventory management solutions for e-commerce retailers and its operations in the corrugated packaging industry. This dual identity—a foundational industrial business funding a futuristic tech venture—highlights the transitional phase the company is currently navigating.

The Worldcoin Treasury and a Bet on 'Proof of Human'

Central to Eightco's ambitious vision is its unique and substantial digital asset treasury. The company holds over 10% of the current circulating supply of Worldcoin (WLD), a cryptocurrency project aimed at establishing a global digital identity network through its "Proof of Human" (PoH) verification system. As of late 2025, this treasury included over 277 million WLD tokens, positioning Eightco as a major stakeholder in the Worldcoin ecosystem.

This massive holding is not merely a passive investment; it is a core strategic pillar. Eightco is leveraging this connection to develop its own proprietary technologies, most notably Infinity by ORBS, a platform designed to provide AI-resistant enterprise authentication. The company's mission is to solve one of the most pressing challenges of the artificial intelligence era: definitively distinguishing between human and machine online.

By aligning itself with Worldcoin and its PoH concept, Eightco is betting that the demand for verifiable human identity will become paramount in a world increasingly populated by sophisticated AI agents. The company's leadership believes this strategic alignment, backed by its significant WLD holdings, provides a unique advantage in building the foundational trust layer for future digital interactions, from enterprise security to consumer authentication and gaming.

Navigating a Competitive and Skeptical Market

While Eightco’s vision is compelling, it is stepping into a fiercely competitive and rapidly evolving market. The digital identity space is crowded with established giants like Okta and Microsoft, as well as a growing number of agile startups specializing in biometrics, decentralized identity, and AI-driven security. To succeed, Eightco must not only innovate but also achieve significant market adoption for its Infinity by ORBS platform.

The market's reaction to the company's strategy has been mixed. The buyback announcement prompted an immediate 12.8% jump in ORBS share price, a typical positive reaction to such news. However, the broader sentiment among financial analysts remains cautious. In recent months, Eightco has received "sell" ratings from firms like Weiss Ratings and Wall Street Zen, with MarketBeat.com showing a consensus "Sell" rating. Analysts point to the company's significant net losses, negative profit margins, and historical reliance on equity issuance to fund operations as key areas of concern.

This skepticism creates a challenging environment for Eightco. The $125 million buyback serves as a direct counter-narrative to this external caution, doubling down on the board's belief that the market is undervaluing its long-term potential. The program effectively puts company capital to work to prove its own thesis: that its strategic assets, particularly its Worldcoin treasury and its development of AI-proof authentication, are worth significantly more than its current stock price reflects. The coming months will be critical in demonstrating whether this bold financial maneuver can translate its ambitious vision into tangible, sustainable growth.