What is WorldCoin, the Crypto Project that Seeks Eye Scans for Sign-Ups?

Sam Altman launched a unique cryptocurrency project called WorldCoin, which uses eye scanning for verification and gives away free WorldCoin tokens (WLD) for every successful verification.

OpenAI’s Sam Altman along with Alex Blania and Max Novendstern co-founded WorldCoin around three years ago and has recently launched the project on July 24, 2023, for the world. The motive behind launching this distinctive cryptocurrency project is to provide a verified unique identity to everyone while confirming their humanness in this world of AI and robots.

The co-founders of WorldCoin in a blog post penned down a note that stated: “If successful, we believe WorldCoin could drastically increase economic opportunity, scale a reliable solution for distinguishing humans from AI online while preserving privacy, enable global democratic processes and eventually show a potential path to AI-funded UBI.”

The founders also conveyed that they wanted to establish a concept like Universal Basic Income in the era where AI can do most of the tasks. Altman believes that UBI through WorldCoin can potentially help in combatting income inequality and reduce duplication and fraud issues. 

“Through its unique technology, WorldCoin aims to provide anyone in the world, regardless of background, geography or income, access to the growing digital and global economy in a privacy-preserving and decentralized way.”

The WorldCoin protocol consists of three aspects called World ID, WorldCoin token (WLD), and World App. World ID is a unique ID for “real humans” and WorldCoin tokens are a free digital currency that the company will distribute to the people who verify themselves as “humans”. The World App can be used for “payment, purchases, and transfers globally using digital assets and fiat-backed stablecoins.”

The company has co-created a special device called Orbs that is used to scan the human iris for verification and create a unique  World ID for every individual. 1.5k Orbs have been installed in almost 35 cities and 20 countries worldwide for optimal scanning after signing up for WordCoin. 

The verification process is mandatory to create a World ID and receive free crypto coins otherwise the WorldCoin will only term you as an AI or robot. However, the orb scanning and creating a World ID process is not mandatory to access the app and tokens as per the website.

After you sign up on the app, visit your nearest sign-up location and verify your iris through the eye-scanning device Orbs. The device will be placed 20cm from your face and you’ll be required to look at the little ring light which will turn into a full circle. Your unique World ID will be created immediately after this and you’ll become a “certified human”!

You will then receive an amount of WorldCoin’s cryptocurrency for free as an incentive which you can sell or keep for the future till its value inflates. “Eligible verified users can claim 1 free WLD token per week with no maximum and the amount is consistent across applicable regions”- WorldCoin’s blog.

There are certain criticisms around the WorldCoin’s biometric data collection privacy concerns. The eye-scanning through orbs which otherwise has been termed encrypted and safe has been found “questionable” by data security regulators and watchdogs of multiple countries including France, Britain, and Kenya!

The deputy director of Fight For the Future, Evan Greer said, “If your credit card number leaks, you can get a new credit card number but if a biometric scan of your face leaks, you can’t get a new face.”