- Worldcoin, founded by Sam Altman, launched its World ID, a “digital passport” for human authentication.
- Worldcoin expands “orbing” operations, offering WLD token as an incentive to users.
- World IDs stored on blockchains can combat fraud and distinguish AI bots from humans.
Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency initiative established by Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, was launched on Monday.
At the heart of the project lies its primary feature, the World ID, which is referred to as a “digital passport” designed to authenticate the identity of its possessor as a genuine human rather than an AI bot. To obtain a World ID, individuals need to undergo an in-person iris scan utilizing Worldcoin’s ‘orb,’ a spherical device akin to the size of a bowling ball. Once the orb’s iris scan confirms the individual’s human identity, a unique World ID is generated.
The company responsible for Worldcoin is Tools for Humanity, which operates out of San Francisco and Berlin.
During its beta phase, the project attracted 2 million users. With the official launch on Monday, Worldcoin is expanding its “orbing” operations to 35 cities across 20 countries. As an incentive, individuals who register in specific countries will be rewarded with Worldcoin’s cryptocurrency token, WLD.
Additionally, the WLD token has been listed on several prominent crypto exchanges, including , Huobi, Bybit, and OKX.
Huobi and Bybit have already listed the WLD token, and both exchanges offer options for deposits and trading. Bybit has announced that withdrawals will be available from Tuesday at 10 a.m. UTC, and OKX will follow suit with withdrawals becoming accessible at the same time. Huobi users have the opportunity to trade WLD against USDT (Tether), while Bybit has provided the additional option to trade WLD against USDC (USD Coin).
Following the launch, WLD’s value experienced a surge in early trading on Monday. On the prominent exchange Binance, it reached a peak of $5.29, while at 1000 GMT, it settled at $2.49, starting from an initial price of $0.15. The total trading volume for WLD on Binance’s platform reached $25.1 million, as reported on Binance’s website.
According to co-founder Alex Blania, Worldcoin plans to utilize blockchains to store World IDs securely, ensuring privacy while preventing centralized control or shut down by any single entity. This distributed approach safeguards the data and makes it resistant to manipulation.
The project emphasizes that World IDs will play a crucial role in the era of advanced generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT, which are capable of producing language that closely resembles human speech. By implementing World IDs, it becomes possible to distinguish between real human users and AI bots in the online space.
Sam Altman stated to Reuters that Worldcoin’s efforts extend beyond identity verification, as they also aim to address the potential impact of generative AI on the global economy. This implies that Worldcoin intends to play a role in shaping how generative AI will reshape various aspects of the economy.
People will be supercharged by AI, which will have massive economic implications.
Sam Altman, co-founder Worldcoin
Moreover, one example that Sam Altman finds appealing is Universal Basic Income (UBI), a social welfare program typically administered by governments, where every individual receives regular payments. Altman believes that as AI continues to take over more human tasks, UBI could be a potential solution to address income inequality. By leveraging World IDs, which are exclusive to real individuals, the risk of fraud in the distribution of UBI could be minimized.
Altman acknowledges that the implementation of UBI might be a distant prospect, and he doesn’t have a concrete idea of the organization or entity responsible for distributing the funds. Nevertheless, Altman sees Worldcoin as a foundation for exploring and experimenting with such ideas, paving the way for potential real-world applications in the future.
In his words, “We believe that it is necessary to begin experimenting with different approaches to better understand how to tackle these challenges.”
