Sam Altman’s digital identity project, World (WLD), has gained more than 80% in value in the last two days.
This rise was driven by Nasdaq-listed Eightco Holdings Inc.’s launch of a WLD digital asset treasury (DAT) through a $250 million private placement.
Additionally, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, listed Worldcoin (WLD) as of today.
Eightco announced on Monday that it had purchased approximately 170 million shares of its common stock in a private placement for $250 million. The company also issued an additional $20 million worth of shares to BitMine, the world’s largest institutional holder of Ethereum.
According to the company’s statement, the transaction was led by MOZAYYX, with participation from institutional investors such as World Foundation, Discovery Capital Management, GAMA, FalconX, Kraken, Pantera, GSR, Coinfund, Occam Crest, Diametric and Brevan Howard.
The World project, formerly known as Worldcoin, is being developed by Tools for Humanity, founded by Altman and Alex Blania. The project uses iris scans to verify identity and reward users with WLD tokens. This system is seen as a means of “proving humanity” in an era when the internet is overflowing with AI-powered bots.
“These globes and iris scanning will be the standard in the future for distinguishing humans from bots,” technology analyst Dan Ives told CNBC. Ives was also appointed chairman of the board of directors of WLD, the treasury company founded by Eightco.
WLD reached an all-time high of over $11 in March 2024.
*This is not investment advice.