On May 21, 2025, the World Foundation announced that its subsidiary World Assets Ltd. sold $135 million worth of WLD tokens at market price to early supporters Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Bain Capital Crypto. Upon the announcement, the price of WLD surged over 13% in a short time, reaching a peak of $1.29, with trading volume also increasing by 70%.
Matt Hougam, the Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise, posted on X, unable to help but exclaim: "a16z and Bain spent so much money buying WLD, but this token has dropped 90% in the past 14 months. I have never seen such a move. Honestly, it's quite interesting."
The two venture capital firms bought directly at market price.
According to Worldcoin's official announcement, this is not a new round of funding, but rather a16z and Bain Capital Crypto bought WLD directly at market price, without discounts. This money is primarily used to accelerate the expansion of the World network, particularly in the US market, such as building an Orb factory in Richardson, Texas, specifically for mass production of verification devices used for iris scanning. The official blog indicates that by April 28, 2025, the circulating supply of WLD will be 1.3 billion tokens, accounting for 13% of the total supply.
Notably, this is yet another significant purchase of coins by a16z this year. The last time was in April when a16z spent $55 million to purchase LayerZero's ZRO tokens, with a lock-up period of three years.
Worldcoin was co-founded by OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman and others back in 2019, aiming to create a global identity verification system called 'World ID' through iris scanning technology, to distinguish between humans and AI, and address the increasingly complex issue of digital identity. In May 2023, Worldcoin's development company Tools for Humanity completed a $115 million Series C funding round, led by Blockchain Capital, with participation from a16z, Bain Capital Crypto, and Distributed Global.
As of May 2025, the number of users on the Worldcoin network has exceeded 26 million, with 12.5 million people completing Orb verification and obtaining World ID. This project now has a solid user base globally, especially in emerging markets.
This wave of token sales coincided with a recovery in the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin recently reached new highs, which also boosted the rise of a number of tokens, including WLD. Selling a large number of tokens at this time was a timely move for Worldcoin, preparing the funds for its entry into the US market.
So why did these two venture capital firms choose to buy WLD now?
In simple terms, a16z and Bain are typical long-term players; they focus more on platform-level opportunities and are not the type to chase short-term trends. Although WLD is currently at a low price, considering its technological strength, team background, and project vision, this may be the moment it is 'undervalued by the market.' The more panic in the market and the more misaligned prices are, the more it signals 'below intrinsic value' for these seasoned institutions. WLD dropped 90%, retail investors are scared and sold out, but they feel now is a great time to buy the dip.
Additionally, Worldcoin made a very strong privacy defense at the Consensus 2025 conference, further boosting market confidence. The official emphasized that iris scan data is stored locally and complies with privacy protection standards, which indeed alleviated external concerns about data security.
The focus is on expansion in the US market and technological implementation.
This round of venture capital's large purchase of WLD has a core purpose of supporting Worldcoin's implementation in the US. On May 1, Worldcoin officially launched the identity verification system 'World ID' in the US, and has set up iris scanning points in six cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Miami, to fully promote its layout and technological implementation in the US market.
Furthermore, with the World App debit card project in collaboration with Visa and the age verification pilot on Tinder with Match Group, Worldcoin is making continuous moves in the financial and social sectors, which not only enhances Worldcoin's brand influence but also supports the actual use cases for its token WLD.
In terms of technology, Worldcoin has launched the Orb Mini device and the new World ID 3.0, continuing to make strides in blockchain and biometrics. The Orb device, based on NVIDIA technology, can efficiently complete iris scanning while generating digital identities that meet privacy protection requirements. In the context of rampant AI content, this technology is particularly crucial. In addition, Worldcoin has also launched its own blockchain—World Chain, which will prioritize processing transactions verified by humans, making its technological ecosystem more complete and recognizable.
In summary:
Although Worldcoin's future appears promising, challenges are significant. The foremost issue is privacy. Although the team repeatedly emphasizes data protection mechanisms, the iris scanning technology has sparked controversy in many countries. In early May 2025, Indonesia suspended Worldcoin's operations due to privacy concerns, and Spain and Portugal had also investigated its data collection. These regulatory pressures may slow its progress in certain markets.
Additionally, Worldcoin's business model has not yet been fully validated. Although the number of users is growing rapidly, how to truly convert iris scanning and the WLD token into stable commercial value still requires time to verify.
However, Jake Brukhman, co-founder of CoinFund and one of the earliest investors in Worldcoin, is very optimistic about this. When sharing a post that is bullish on WLD, he stated: "The first time I bought Bitcoin, its fully diluted valuation (FDV) was around $10 billion. That was 12 years ago, and almost all stakeholders—media, financial institutions, and governments—were suppressing it, until recently when the tide started to change. In contrast, WLD will become a more widely distributed currency, and it is catching a favorable wind: the regulatory environment is becoming friendlier, iOS officially supports crypto, and various innovations in the blockchain field over the past 12 years are finally being realized."