Worldcoin Secures $135 Million for US Expansion Amid 90% Token Drawdown

Worldcoin, a biometric-identity project, has secured $135 million through the sale of its WLD tokens to two of its earliest backers, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Bain Capital Crypto. The sale, which was a direct purchase of non-discounted liquid tokens, did not involve any lock-ups or preferential terms. This funding is aimed at accelerating the expansion of Worldcoin’s iris-scanning “Orb” hardware in the United States, where regulatory challenges are significant, and to meet the growing demand internationally.

The World Foundation, the nonprofit entity behind Worldcoin, highlighted that over 26 million users are already part of the World network, with more than 12.5 million people having an Orb-verified World ID. The capital raised will support the network's goal of becoming one of the first self-sustaining protocols. Andreessen Horowitz, which was a lead investor in Tools for Humanity during its 2021 Series A, has been a foundational backer of the Worldcoin ecosystem from its inception.

Market observers were surprised by the size and terms of the buy. Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise, noted on X that the purchase of $135 million worth of WLD tokens at the current market price, which is down 90% over the past 14 months, was unprecedented. Hougan suggested that the purchase could be seen as an endorsement of Sam Altman's involvement in the project, given the significant discount.

Worldcoin positions its “proof-of-personhood” scheme as a crucial tool in the era of accelerating artificial general intelligence (AGI). The foundation argues that identity verification tools must scale at a similar pace to prepare humanity for the AGI era. The latest funding will primarily be used to manufacture more Orbs, subsidize US city roll-outs, and refine the protocol’s fee model.

The high-conviction signal from venture capital titans, who are effectively doubling down at market price after a near-90% drawdown, suggests that the biometric-identity narrative may be poised for a resurgence. However, the success of this narrative will depend on overcoming regulatory hurdles and addressing lingering privacy concerns, which will define the next chapter for Sam Altman’s most controversial crypto experiment.