Public gets chance to invest in World’s biometric digital ID through $270M deal

A group of American crypto investors believe that World’s iris biometrics can provide the universal foundation for digital identity that is necessary for the “AI-driven future.”

American investment company Eightco Holdings is bringing Worldcoin to the NASDAQ, in the form of a “Worldcoin treasury strategy” it claims in the world first. The treasury is being funded through the issuance and sale of nearly 185 million shares of Eightco common stock.

Approximately 171,232,877 shares of common stock are being purchased by lead investor Mozayyx, an Austin, Texas-based investment firm, along with World Foundation, Discovery Capital Management, GAMA, FalconX, Kraken, Pantera, GSR, Coinfund, Occam Crest, Diametric and Brevan Howard at $1.46 per share. Those sales generate approximately $250 million, minus placement agent fees and other expenses for Eightco.

Bitcoin and Etherum-focussed crypto miner and manager BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) is paying an additional $20 million for 13.7 million shares, according to Investing.com.

Eightco plans to change its NASDAQ ticker symbol from “OCTO” to “ORBS” in honor of the Web3 proof of humanity provider’s primacy in its new business strategy.

Financial analyst and internet personality Dan Ives takes the role of Chairman of Eightco Holdings.

“World is the internet of people,” Ives says in the announcement. “While AI gives us infinite abundance, World gives us infinite trust and authentication.”

Infinite trust in World is not shared by regulators in Thailand, where parent company Tools for Humanity has suspended its rollout of World’s biometric orbs for two weeks, the Bangkok Post reports. Tools for Humanity will invite security experts and regulators to an “Orb Deep Dive Day” to attempt to allay their data privacy concerns.

“As an ERC-20 native token, World is aligned with Ethereum,” notes BitMine Chairman Thomas Lee, offering a slightly more measured take. “World’s unique zero-knowledge Proof of Human credential could be essential to future trust and safety between technology platforms and their billions of human users.”

Ives also told CNBC that he believes World will be “the de facto standard for authentication and identification in the future world of AI.”

Eightco plans to use the funds to build up its reserve of Worldcoin (WLD), as its primary treasury reserve asset. Ethereum and cash may be held by the company as secondary assets.

The company’s stock opened on Monday at $18.84 on the NASDAQ, and spiked to above $40 before declining to around $37 in late-morning trading.

Scaling from 16M to ‘de facto’

Much of the early coverage has revolved around the World app’s 100 million users, and neglects to note that the number of user who have had their iris biometrics scanned and an orb, and therefore verified their World ID, remains below 16 million. That means 84 million of World’s users cannot use their World ID to pass KYC or AML checks and buy WLD. That makes the $270 million invested in the transition to WLD approximately $16.88 per verified user.

The company reached 10 million biometrically verified users at the beginning of this year, and resistance from regulators in countries like Germany, where Tools for Humanity is registered, may make improving the pace difficult. World began collecting American’s biometrics earlier this year, but has not yet established solid traction in China.

World has verified just under 242,000 people in the past seven days, which would amount just over 12.5 million over the course of a year.

The offering is expected to close on or near September 11.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  cryptocurrency  |  digital identity  |  IPO  |  iris biometrics  |  proof of personhood  |  World  |  World ID