Worldcoin

A closer look at Worldcoin, Sam Altman’s eyeball scanning crypto project

In 2023, Sam Altman has become the public face of ChatGPT and the latest generation of artificial intelligence in his role as CEO of OpenAI. But before the meteoric rise of the generative AI tool, Altman had also planted the seeds for Worldcoin, a crypto project that aims to provide a universal currency and a new standard for digital identity and privacy, in part by … scanning people’s eyes to confirm their identities.

Let’s take a closer look at how Altman’s initiative — which just raised $115 million last week amid a bear market for VC funding of crypto projects — works, as well as some of the questions raised about Worldcoin's efforts. 

What is Worldcoin?

Founded in 2019 by tools for Humanity, Worldcoin is a crypto-focused project with a three-part goal of creating universal online IDs (World ID), a global cryptocurrency (WLD), and a self-custodial wallet app (World App) that enables payments using WLD, stablecoins, and traditional fiat currencies. It was co-founded by Altman and Alex Blania, who serves as Tools for Humanity’s CEO.  

Worldcoin’s lofty mission entails freely distributing WLD as a form of universal basic income to everyone “just for being a unique individual,” and to establish unique digital identities to prove “humanness in an online world populated with increasingly advanced artificial intelligence.”

The company, which is still in beta, says it has so far onboarded nearly two million users across five continents, however, U.S. residents are not currently able to receive the Worldcointoken. Its World App  launched in more than 80 countries in early May.