Worldcoin, a project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has recently launched its ecosystem token, garnering mixed opinions from the crypto space and Silicon Valley. While some praise the project’s ambitious goals of addressing income inequality and online identity authentication, others find it unsettling and dystopian.
The project, which was introduced on March 14, offered a waitlist for its software development kit (SDK). Worldcoin aims to create a global digital passport, called World ID, which users can store on their phones. This digital passport would serve as proof of humanity to websites without requiring users to share personal identifying information like phone numbers. The team claims that they do not store user data but instead use zero-knowledge proofs to verify human users without revealing their actual information.
On May 8, Worldcoin released a gas-free crypto wallet for verified humans, allowing them to make gas-free transfers by registering for a World ID, which involves providing a phone number or iris scan.
Despite concerns and criticism, the project has gained support from various crypto exchanges that announced their plans to list the token, including Binance, Bybit, OKX, Gate, and Huobi.
However, there have also been setbacks, with a fake Worldcoin token performing a rug pull, as reported by blockchain security firm PeckShield.
Former Twitter CEO and Bitcoin supporter, Jack Dorsey, voiced his opposition to the idea, stating that no corporation or state should own any part of the global financial system.
Despite the varying opinions, the project has garnered significant interest, recording over 2 million sign-ups to its World ID project. Sam Altman tweeted his aspiration to bring this number to 2 billion.
In May, the project secured $115 million in funding to support its decentralized identification system and crypto wallet, the World App. Leveraging artificial intelligence technology, the team aims to offer a decentralized and privacy-preserving solution that empowers individuals to take control of their online identities.
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