World Foundation Raises $52.5 Million to Expand World ID

World Foundation oversees the World protocol, co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to build a privacy-preserving way to prove a user is a unique person online. Its World ID is created after a one-time iris scan with the Orb and stored on the user’s phone. The project is gaining relevance as AI agents, deepfakes and synthetic identities strain advertising, dating, voting and communications systems that have historically assumed an online participant is human.

On July 24, 2026, World Foundation said it raised $52.5 million in the first close of a WLD token sale led by Pantera Capital, with Bain Capital Crypto, Eightco Holdings, Selini Capital and Susquehanna Crypto participating. The tokens are locked for 12 months, and proceeds will expand World ID for organizations, consumers and AI agents. World said its network has more than 39 million users, including over 18 million verified through the Orb, and has processed more than 475 million identity proofs.