World Foundation has raised $52.5 million through a locked sale of WLD tokens, adding capital for the identity network behind World ID as online services confront AI-generated accounts, bots and deepfakes.

The round was led by Pantera Capital. Reporting from CoinDesk and TechCrunch also names Bain Capital Crypto, Eightco Holdings, Susquehanna Crypto and Selini Capital among the participants. TechCrunch reported that buyers entered a 12-month lockup, limiting resale of the tokens during that period.

World, formerly known as Worldcoin, is centered on "proof of human" credentials. Its system uses Orb devices to verify that a person is unique, then issues a World ID that can be used to prove humanness without exposing the underlying biometric data. The project is operated by Tools for Humanity, which was co-founded by Sam Altman and Alex Blania, while World Foundation stewards the broader protocol.

The funding comes as World tries to move beyond crypto-native adoption into identity checks for consumer apps, enterprise platforms and AI agents. CoinDesk reported that World says more than 39 million people have joined the network, more than 18 million have been verified by an Orb and more than 475 million World ID proofs have been used.

The opportunity is clear, but so is the scrutiny. Biometric identity systems face persistent questions around consent, privacy and real-world deployment, making execution and trust as important as the new funding itself.