The project, which aims to be the world’s most prominent “real human network,” was previously known as Worldcoin and aims to establish an identity layer to distinguish unique individuals from automated bots. This protocol relies on custom hardware called orbs to issue credentials without compromising user privacy.
“The world’s technology and human proof and variation are among the most important building blocks for securing and validating interactions in an increasingly digital world,” Tom Lee, director of Eightco Holdings and chairman of Bitmine, said in a statement.
World said the investment comes as it moves from building its network to expanding its power business.
To date, more than 39 million people have joined the World Network and more than 18 million have been verified by Orb, World said in a press release announcing the funding. The network has leveraged more than 475 million World ID certificates since its launch and is expanding its capacity as it deploys updated enterprise-ready infrastructure, it added.
World, the Sam Altman-backed digital identity project, announced in April what it called the most significant upgrade to World ID yet, positioning the system as a “full-stack human proof” infrastructure for consumers, businesses, and AI agents.
