A group of American crypto investors is betting big on Worldcoin, a digital identity project that uses iris scans to verify people. They believe this technology could become the global standard for verifying humans in an AI-powered future.

Eightco Holdings, a U.S. investment company, is bringing Worldcoin into the spotlight with what it calls the first-ever “Worldcoin treasury strategy.” This move involves raising money by selling nearly 185 million shares of Eightco’s stock. The funds raised—about $250 million—will go toward buying and holding Worldcoin (WLD) as a major asset in Eightco’s treasury.

The biggest chunk of the investment, around 171 million shares, was purchased by Mozayyx, an investment firm based in Austin, Texas. Other major investors include Discovery Capital Management, Kraken, Pantera, GSR, Coinfund, and Brevan Howard. Each share was sold at $1.46.

On top of that, BitMine Immersion Technologies, a company focused on Bitcoin and Ethereum mining, is investing another $20 million for 13.7 million shares.

Eightco is also rebranding itself on NASDAQ. It will change its ticker symbol from “OCTO” to “ORBS,” highlighting its new focus on blockchain identity and Web3 technologies.

Dan Ives, a well-known financial analyst, has taken over as chairman of Eightco. He explained the move by saying that AI brings endless possibilities, but Worldcoin brings something just as valuable—trust. He believes Worldcoin could become the go-to solution for verifying identity in the age of AI.

However, not everyone is on board. In Thailand, regulators have raised concerns about privacy and data collection. As a result, Worldcoin’s parent company, Tools for Humanity, has paused operations there for two weeks. They plan to hold an event called “Orb Deep Dive Day” to answer questions from regulators and security experts.

Thomas Lee, chairman of BitMine, offered a more cautious view. He pointed out that Worldcoin’s zero-knowledge proof technology could be key to building trust between humans and AI platforms in the future.

Ives also told CNBC that he sees Worldcoin as the future standard for online identity and authentication.

Eightco plans to use most of the funds to build a large reserve of Worldcoin (WLD), while also keeping some Ethereum and cash as backup assets.

On the day the announcement was made, Eightco’s stock opened at $18.84 and quickly jumped above $40 before settling around $37.

While much of the buzz is about the World app having 100 million users, only about 16 million people have actually completed the iris scan needed to verify their identity with Worldcoin’s Orb device. That means most users can’t yet use their World ID to pass Know Your Customer (KYC) or Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks or buy WLD tokens.

With around $270 million invested so far and fewer than 16 million verified users, that puts the cost at roughly $16.88 per verified person.

Worldcoin hit 10 million verified users earlier this year, but growth has slowed due to regulatory pushback in countries like Germany, where its parent company is based. The project started scanning irises in the U.S. recently but hasn’t gained much traction in China.

In the past week alone, about 242,000 people have verified their identity with Worldcoin. If that pace keeps up, it would add about 12.5 million new verified users over the next year.

This major investment round is expected to officially close by September 11.