The Worldcoin company is already valued at $1 billion.
OpenAI CEO and former Y Combinator President Sam Altman formally announced Worldcoin, a project designed to distribute free cryptocurrency equitably to as many people as possible. Rescuing this crypto, however, involves a bewildering compromise.
Worldcoin's global ambitions
Sam Altman, the former president of Y Combinator and current CEO of OpenAI, formally introduced Worldcoin as of today, approximately four months after news of its existence first leaked in June. The project, whose funders include a16z, Coinbase Ventures and Sam Bankman-Fried, describes itself as "a new globally collectively owned currency that will be distributed fairly to as many people as possible."
To expedite adoption and promote equitable distribution, the team is offering free currency “stocks” to everyone on Earth, but there is a catch: To redeem a free Worldcoin, you must first undergo a biometric analysis of your eyeball. This is done, according to the Worldcoin website, to prove the user's “unique humanity” – that is, to prove that the user is not a bot and has not yet received their free Worldcoin.
This is done with complex technology packaged in a device Worldcoin calls an Orb. Orb converts the image of a person's eye into a numeric code, which is then validated to prevent that person from receiving more than one share. While some may feel dystopian underpinnings for this aspect of the Worldcoin project, the team claims that privacy is inherent in their Orb's design, and that they used cutting-edge technology and cryptographic techniques to address these issues. The Worldcoin team says it does not need to store the original image or capture any other personal information. Plus, you don't need to scan your eyes to join the Worldcoin network, as biometrics are only needed to claim a free share.
Free Worldcoin will be distributed through Orb Operators, and entrepreneurs who want to build a business around this new technology can apply to become one. There are already 25 operators in twelve countries on four continents, each with an average weekly subscription rate of 1.069. Extrapolating, the team projects a billion users in less than two years. As Altman tweeted: "A network that big must be very powerful."
Although only 3% of people globally participate in cryptographic networks today, the mass adoption of crypto, the authors wrote, could "make possible applications that are now unimaginable".