A16Z and Bain Capital have invested $135 million in Worldcoin. What new tricks is Sam Altman playing this time?

Recently, there has been big news in the encryption circle: the two major VC giants of Silicon Valley, Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z) and Bain Capital, jointly invested 135 million USD into Worldcoin (WLD), and the mastermind behind this project is none other than OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman. As soon as the news broke, Worldcoin surged by 40%.

What exactly is Worldcoin?

Simply put, it is an encryption token running on Ethereum, supported by an ecosystem called World Network. What Altman aims to solve is the “real person” problem—how to prove that you are a real person and not an AI robot.

Their plan is to assign a unique World ID to each user, verified through iris scanning (eyeball recognition). This prevents the same person from registering multiple times and also blocks harassment from AI bots. Theoretically, this system can be used in a variety of scenarios such as online voting, identity verification, anti-fraud, and more.

Why did the VCs suddenly place their bets?

The most direct reason is the need for money. The demand for the use of World ID seems to be increasing, and the project needs funding to expand its infrastructure.

But at a deeper level, this also reflects the risk-averse psychology of institutional investors. The stock market has been unsettled for the past two months by news of tariffs, AI competition, and other factors, making traditional financing increasingly difficult. In this environment, VCs tend to double down on existing portfolios rather than venture into new startups or volatile sectors. For A16Z and Bain, investing in Worldcoin is a “hedge” in the encryption field — retaining the entry ticket, but with relatively controllable costs.

Should you follow the trend to buy?

To be honest, this matter is very risky. Although the financing news has caused the coin price to surge by 40%, there are at least two hidden dangers from an investment perspective:

1. Regulatory Uncertainty — World Network involves large-scale biometric and identity verification, and the legal stance of various countries is still ambiguous. The EU's privacy laws and the US's biometric regulations could become stumbling blocks. Even with Altman's fame, it remains uncertain whether this project can expand smoothly in the long term.

2. The “Virtual Fire” of the Encryption Market — The price fluctuations in the cryptocurrency circle are often unrelated to the fundamentals; most of the time, they are driven by emotions and FOMO. Financing news pumping is a common operation, but this kind of reaction is often unsustainable.

Speaking of which

The investment from A16Z and Bain indeed indicates that the concept of Worldcoin is worth paying attention to, but for most retail investors, the risks of participation are too high. Unless you have a deep understanding of the “human verification” track, it is wiser to observe. The volatility of encryption projects is already significant, coupled with the uncertainty of regulation, the possibility of losing money is not small.