Sam Altman’s Worldcoin Secures $135M Funding—WLD Token Surges 15%

The organization behind Worldcoin, the nonprofit World Foundation, has revitalized its biometric identity initiative by selling $135 million in liquid WLD tokens to early supporters Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Bain Capital Crypto. This transaction—described as a straightforward acquisition of liquid tokens without any discounts—will increase the WLD tokens in circulation without any lock-up periods or special conditions.

$135 Million Raised by Worldcoin

This sale aims to finance the rapid deployment of Worldcoin’s iris-scanning “Orb” technology in the U.S.—where regulatory challenges persist—and to meet burgeoning international interest. According to the foundation, over 26 million users are currently engaged with the World network, and more than 12.5 million have obtained an Orb-verified World ID. The additional funding is intended to help position the network as “one of the first self-sustaining protocols.”

Further Reading

Andreessen Horowitz’s involvement aligns with its early investment in the initiative. The venture firm was a key backer during the 2021 Series A funding round for Tools for Humanity—the entity that nurtured Worldcoin—establishing itself as a foundational supporter even prior to the World Foundation’s inception.

Market analysts expressed surprise at the volume and conditions of the deal. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan remarked that “a16z and Bain just bought $135m of Worldcoin (WLD) at the current market price … a price that has seen a 90% decline in the last 14 months. I don’t believe I’ve encountered anything quite like this. It’s quite intriguing, honestly.” A user speculated that the purchase might be an attempt to capitalize on Sam Altman’s involvement, to which Hougan responded, “yes, that could be the case.”

Worldcoin promotes its “proof-of-personhood” initiative as a vital counterbalance to the rapid evolution of artificial general intelligence. The organization asserts that tools for verifying identity “should develop at a parallel rate to prepare humanity for the AGI era,” and the recent funding will primarily support the production of more Orbs, facilitate deployments in U.S. cities, and enhance the protocol’s fee structure.

Further Reading

With venture capital giants making significant investments at market value—following a nearly 90% decline—the transaction is seen as a strong indicator that the biometric identity narrative might be on the verge of resurgence. Whether this confidence can navigate regulatory obstacles and ongoing privacy issues will shape the future for Sam Altman’s contentious cryptocurrency endeavor.

WLD Price Analysis

An examination of the WLD/USDT (Binance) weekly chart reveals a price recovery that resembles a V-shaped bottom, bouncing from a low of $0.57, which serves as the 0-Fibonacci anchor in the current retracement pattern, and approaching a cluster of moving averages that have limited previous rallies this year.

The immediate resistance level is the 20-week EMA ($1.27); surpassing this would lead to testing the 50-week EMA at $1.87 and subsequently the 0.236 Fibonacci retracement at $3.27. The significant $5 zone around the 0.382 level might follow thereafter.

Significantly, there has been an uptick in momentum: the weekly RSI is trending upwards, while increased trading volume suggests renewed dip-buying interest. Nonetheless, the overall trend remains firmly bearish as long as prices stay below the $1.33-$1.41 resistance zone.

As of the last update, WLD was priced at $1.337.

Image created using DALL.E, chart sourced from relevant analysis platforms