Worldcoin
Worldcoin is an iris biometric cryptocurrency project developed by San Francisco- and Berlin-based Tools for Humanity. Founded in 2019 by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, Max Novendstern, and Alex Blania, it is backed by VC Andreessen Horowitz.


== History ==
In 2021, the company stated that its token (WLD) is intended to be a larger effort to drive a more unified and equitable global economy driven by the internet economy, although it will not be available in the USA. The token will be a Layer 2 Ethereum-based cryptocurrency that leverages the security of the Ethereum blockchain while having its own economy.In October 2021, the project raised an initial $25 million. Within six months, an additional $100 million was raised, pushing the token's value up to $3 billion.In April 2022, a report from MIT Technology Review cited those from the community who accused Worldcoin of "taking advantage of students" and "targeting lower-income communities", and came to the conclusion that "it's just cheaper and easier to run this kind of data collection operation in places where people have little money and few legal protections."In May 2023, TechCrunch reported that hackers had been able to steal login credentials of several of Worldcoin's operators' personal devices including their credentials to the Worldcoin operator app. However, Worldcoin's spokesperson said that no personal user data was compromised, as the operator app does not access user data.Further funding of $115 million was announced in May 2023, to be used for investment into bot detection, research and development, and expanding the Worldcoin project and application. While in beta, Worldcoin was reported to have onboarded approximately two million users.Worldcoin launched out of beta on July 24, 2023 with 11 orb locations in the U.S. and plans for 35 cities in 20 countries.In August 2023, Kenya, one of the first countries where Worldcoin was launched, suspended its enrollment in the country, citing security, privacy and financial concerns. Worldcoin was previously ordered to stop collecting personal data by the Kenyan Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, but did not comply.


== Design ==
Worldcoin hopes to provide a reliable way to authenticate humans online called World ID, to counter bots and fake virtual identities facilitated by artificial intelligence. Worldcoin attempts to recruit new users to join its network by getting their iris scanned using Worldcoin's orb-shaped iris scanner in return for some Worldcoin. Worldcoin claims the distribution mechanism was inspired by universal basic income discussions.


== Controversies ==
The currency has not formally launched in the US and other countries because of concerns by national regulators regarding privacy and potential use of the tokens for fraudulent purposes.


== References ==


== External links ==
Official website