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- 1 Alex Blania and OpenAI founder Sam Altman launched a beta version of WorldCoin on July 25, 2023.
- 2 The company offers World ID, separating humans from AI.
OpenAI founders Sam Altman and Alex Blania launched the WorldCoin on July 25, 2023, pioneering the initiative of World ID using an iris scan. The revolutionary idea comes with the concept of a “digital passport,” which would be used to establish the authenticity of its holder as a human rather than an AI bot.
WorldCoin: Using “Digital Passport” to Entail Human Authenticity
The world has gotten constricted with technology. Although many individuals categorize themselves as global citizens, they still need a passport from their country of origin. As artificial intelligence technology is evolving at an alarming rate, AI-generated humans are already a reality.
Anyone wishing to have World ID will undergo an in-person iris scan; a bowling ball-sized unique device, the ‘orb,’ will be used for the procedure. After this simple procedure, the person’s identity would be verified, and an exclusive World ID would be generated.
Tools for Humanity is the driving force behind the revolutionary new coin, and it operates in both Berlin and San Francisco. Its beta phase already claimed to have a 2 Million solid user base. The project wishes to expand its “orbing” operations to 20 countries and 35 cities. The batch of first movers would be rewarded with WorldCoin’s token WLD.
Where Did it All Begin and Where Will it Go?
As per its website, the project was founded nearly three years ago to pioneer a new identity system along with a financial network owned by everyone. Although its success is skeptical, founders believe it has potential. The proposed use cases include increased economic opportunity and a reliable method to distinguish humans from AI.
Moreover, it claims to preserve individuals’ privacy and facilitate a global democratic process. It could lead to AI-funded Users Basic Income (UBI) if all goes well. It enables individuals with a privacy-preserving digital identity, aka World ID, while its digital currency (WLD) is for humans.
Blockchain technology would be used to store World ID, as it would preserve privacy and circumvent any central controlling entity. Co-founder Alex Blania strongly feels that this unique identification would play a pivotal role in the era of generative AI chatbots capable of producing human-like languages. It would distinguish real humans from AI bots.
As per the data, human fingerprints have 1 in 64 Billion chances of a match; even though no two fingerprints have been found the same to date, there’s still a chance. On the other hand, the possibility of two individuals having the same iris is 1 in around 185 Billion. Also, the AI-generated bots or images/videos cannot copy the iris, which could be a deciding factor in distinguishing.
At press time, WDC is trading at $0.01613 with a jump of 10.19% in the last 24 hours, while the total gain since its launch has been 1458.53% with a block time of around 30 seconds and difficulty retargeting with every block. The reward for mining one block is 1.50 coins which are reduced by 1% weekly or after every 20,160 blocks. Currently, there are 265,420,800 coins in existence.
WorldCoin is listed on BITXONEX, XEGGEX.Com, XT.com, Exchange-Assets.com, and Freiexchange.com. Other exchanges might soon list the coin.
Will it Work? Vitalik Buterin Doubts
WorldCoin promises a revolutionary technology in the hands of every individual, but Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin doubts the project’s success. He listed privacy, accessibility, centralization, and security as significant roadblocks ahead of the project.
As the World ID links its holder’s real-world actions to its identity, it creates a massive loophole for privacy. Also, the project’s public registry would be filled with biometric data and can be exploited. The accessibility of technology is also an issue due to the availability of orbs. There are simply not enough to cover every human on the planet.
WorldCoin also has to address the issue of centralization, mainly governance, specialized system, and proprietary algorithm. As the company uses specialized hardware, it poses a threat, as the organization does all the work, from taking the scans, storing them, and issuing IDs, along with crypto token WLD. This scenario adds to the risk.
Pioneering technology is often seen with skepticism before they become a success. The same can be said for WorldCoin.
Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.
