The crypto treasury strategy has proliferated in 2025, and it’s lured some well known Wall Street analysts to join the party in leadership roles at firms that are amassing vast troves of tokens.
Dan Ives is the latest getting in on the crypto rush.
The senior equity research analyst at Wedbush Securities, who has a large public following for his views on tech stocks and launched an ETF earlier this year, will be the new chairman of the board of Eightco Holdings, the firm said on Monday.
The Nasdaq-listed Eightco will essentially be a holding company predominantly for Worldcoin, a crypto created by Sam Altman-founded World. It will buy $250 million of Worldcoin initially, and could hold ethereum as well, the firm said.
The stock surged on the news of Ives’ move to join the board and the company’s plan to amass Worldcoin, which will kick off with a $250 million private placement and a rebranding of its ticker to ORBS later this week. Eightco shares exploded 5,600% on Monday to an intraday high of $82.98 after closing at $1.45 on Friday.
Eightco’s crypto strategy will be its main focus going forward, but it also holds positions in firms like Forever 8 and Ferguson Containers.
Ives isn’t the only Wall Street personality to wade into the world of crypto this year.
Tom Lee, the founder of Fundstrat, made a similar move earlier this year, joining the board of BitMine Immersion Technologies, which primarily holds ethereum. BitMine Immersion has invested $20 million in Eightco.
What is a crypto treasury?
Crypto treasury companies—whose primary business is buying and holding crypto—have mushroomed this year, as firms look to mimic the success of Strategy, founded by bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor.
The firm, which owns nearly 3% of all bitcoin in the market, pioneered the crypto treasury playbook, using its position as a public company to easily tap the capital markets to raise debt and equity. Proceeds are used to accumulate ever more bitcoin.
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Under Saylor’s guidance, the company added bitcoin to its balance sheet for the first time in 2022, and the stock is up more than 2,000% since.
Companies like GameStop and Trump Media have also incorporated crypto into their business strategies, and it’s spread beyond just the world’s largest token. Ethereum is now a popular crypto treasury asset, and, as Ives’ move to join Eightco illustrates, even more niche tokens are candidates for corporate balance sheets.
Some have called a peak in the market for crypto treasury companies, even as they continue to form. Bitcoin bull Mike Novogratz said in August that the market is probably saturated by now.
Altman, who is the founder of OpenAI, created World in 2019. The company verifies real humans by scanning their eyes. Users then have an account attached to their identity where they can accumulate World tokens.
Altman and Ives think human authentication will become increasingly important in a world of AI.
“As someone that’s so passionate about the AI revolution and the future of tech, I view World as really the de facto standard for authentication and identification in the future world of AI,” Ives told CNBC on Monday.
