WLD rallies as Worldcoin Foundation raises $135 million for network expansion

WLD saw a 7% gain on Wednesday following an announcement from the World Foundation that it raised $135 million from token sales to expand its World network in the US and other regions.

World Foundation plans to expand its network with $135 million token sale

World Assets, a subsidiary of the World Foundation, announced that it sold 117 million WLD at market price to early investors. It sold the tokens to venture capital firms, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Bain Capital Crypto, aiming to strengthen and expand the World Network in the United States and internationally.

Proceeds from the sale will support the development of infrastructure for World IDs — a digital identity solution designed to confirm a person's humanity on-chain. 

The firm claims it has over 26 million users on the World network, and 12.5 million have created a World ID using the Orb, the firm's biometric device for scanning the iris.

"To meet the increasing demand for Orb-verified World IDs and support the expansion of the World network throughout the US and beyond, World Assets, Ltd. [...] sold $135M of WLD at market prices to two of the project's earliest backers, Andreessen Horowitz and Bain Capital Crypto," the World Foundation said in a blog post.

The Foundation stated that the sale is part of a long-term plan to "help prepare humanity for the AGI era" and make World network one of the first "self-sustaining" protocols.

The World Foundation previously said it would continue selling its tokens to companies to raise funds.

Worldcoin garnered massive attention in 2024 for its biometric technology. However, it also attracted several legal scrutinies and bans in multiple countries over concerns about its data practices. 

The project's use of iris scans and facial recognition to verify users in exchange for token rewards has sparked widespread criticism, with regulators citing serious privacy and data protection risks.

WLD is up 7% following the announcement, stretching its rally to about 50% in the past month.

If the Worldcoin Foundation continues with the trend of unlocking and selling tokens to investors, the rising supply could weigh on WLD’s price in the short term.