World launches biometric proof-of-human tools for banking and AI agents

World, the iris-scanning identity project co-founded by Alex Blania, has launched World ID for banking and finance, combining biometric Orb enrolment, live selfie checks and cryptographic proofs to verify customers and tie AI agents to verified humans. Design partners include Bain Capital and Pantera Capital, though no bank is named, and the company says more than 18 million people hold a Proof of Human. Blania describes proof-of-human as the future gate for almost any online transaction, a model in which biometric identity could become a condition of financial participation, even if privacy protections are claimed.