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What is Worldcoin? How does it work? – Forbes Advisor
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After three years of development, the Worldcoin digital identification platform was officially launched on July 24, 2023. Co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Worldcoin aims to provide its users with a verified digital identity, as well as a verified. cryptocurrency token, helpfully called Worldcoin (WLD), and a crypto wallet app.
According to Worldcoin, advances in artificial intelligence have made it increasingly difficult to determine whether online activity, written text, digital graphics, or anything existing on the Internet comes from real humans or artificial intelligence. The company proposes to help resolve this confusion by implementing a sort of digital passport, based on what it calls “personality proof.”
“The goal is simple: a global financial and identity network based on proof of personhood,” Altman wrote on Twitter. “This seems especially important in the age of artificial intelligence. I hope Worldcoin can contribute to conversations about how we share access, benefits and governance of future AI systems.”
Worldcoin’s platform verifies a user’s identity by scanning their iris to create secure, personal identification codes. The codes are saved on a decentralized blockchainand the company says they cannot be duplicated or falsified to create false identities or commit fraud.
After registering more than 2 million users in the beta testing phase, the company claims that 16 million users have registered on Worldcoin. It is currently rolling out scanning operations in dozens of cities in 20 countries around the world.
What is Worldcoin?
Worldcoin is a digital identification platform that aims to provide every person on earth with a convenient way to verify that they are a real human being and not a bot or AI algorithm.
The company that built Worldcoin, Tools for Humanity, was co-founded by Altman, better known by his given name creating ChatGPT. Ironically, Altman played a central role in sparking the current AI gold rush, which has significantly worsened the very problem that Worldcoin aims to solve.
Worldcoin has built its digital passport system using the cryptographic and blockchain tools that support the broader cryptocurrency world. It also supports the WLD crypto token, as well as a payment platform.
How does Worldcoin work?
Think of Worldcoin as a three-legged stool: it only works if people adopt and use three components that reinforce each other.
Global identity
At the heart of the platform is World ID, which the company says will allow users to “verify their humanity” online while maintaining their privacy. This so-called “personality test” is created by an iris scanning device called an Orb.
Just like fingerprints, each person’s iris pattern is different. The Orb scans a user’s iris and uses its structure to create a unique identifying code called IrisCode. The code is not associated with your personal information – it exists solely to prevent people from acquiring more than one World ID.
After the Orb scans your iris and saves an anonymous IrisCode, it outputs your world ID. It also permanently deletes any iris image. The system doesn’t depend on pointing scanners at your eyes every time you need to verify your identity.
Each World ID is added to the Worldcoin blockchain, and users deploy a cryptographically secure app to identify themselves.
As of this week’s launch, Worldcoin Orbs are available in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Paris, Lisbon, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Nairobi, New York, San Francisco and approximately 25 other cities around the world .
Worldwide application
The World App is your World ID repository. Worldcoin says the app preserves user privacy while providing access to a growing list of decentralized finance applications.
The app works like a crypto walletbut its main purpose is to store user credentials so that users can verify on any third-party application.
In addition to your world ID, the app can contain Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDC, and the company says other cryptocurrencies will be supported in the future.
WLD cryptocurrency token
Once users create a World ID and download the World app, they gain access to the WLD cryptocurrency token.
WLD was released to users who took part in the beta program. A large amount of WLD was distributed to users on Monday as part of the platform’s official launch. Cryptocurrency exchanges they have listed WLD for trading, including KuCoin and Binance, the largest exchange in the world in terms of volume.
According to the Worldcoin White Paper, a total of 10 billion WLD will be issued over the course of 15 years. There are currently 143 million WLDs in circulation at the time of official launch. Of this amount, 43 million were allocated to verified World App users and 100 million were sent to market makers to facilitate trading.
Criticisms of Worldcoin
The project has already received much criticism for its ambitious goals and dubious methods.
After launch, founder of Ethereum Vitalik Buterin expressed his concerns about Worldcoin in a blog post. He argued that the platform’s iris scans could collect more information than the company lets on, or that someone could potentially scan someone else’s iris to determine whether they had a worldwide ID.
An April 2022 MIT Technology Review article said Worldcoin used “deceptive marketing practices, collected more personal data than acknowledged, and failed to obtain meaningful informed consent.”
The company issued a 25 page rebuttal to the criticisms of the MIT Technology Review. “We want to make it very clear that Worldcoin is not a data company and our business model does not involve exploiting or selling users’ personal data,” she wrote. “Worldcoin is only interested in the uniqueness of the user, i.e. the fact that he has never registered with Worldcoin before, not in his identity.”
Worldcoin has also been criticized for widely promoting the platform in developing countries. A significant portion of new users are located in Asia and Africa, raising concerns about exploitation.
“The most alarming thing to me is how the WorldCoin team bragged about how many users they have. When in reality they exploit people in developing countries,” he tweeted pseudonymous crypto influencer ZachXBT.
Finally, in a first round of funding in October 2021, Worldcoin received an investment from Sam Bankman Friedthe infamous founder of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX.