Sam Altman’s eye-scanning crypto project World launches in US

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s crypto-tied digital identity project World, formerly Worldcoin, has made its US debut in six cities. 

The project, which aims to verify humans in the age of artificial intelligence, is initially coming to what it calls the “key innovation hubs” of Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville and San Francisco, according to an April 30 announcement.

World offers a crypto token, Worldcoin (WLD), to those who verify their identity with its spherical device called an Orb, which scans a user’s face and eyes.

The firm had previously skirted launching in the US due to regulatory concerns over offering a token, fears now seemingly allayed with the crypto-friendly Trump administration.

The data from World’s Orb scan can be used to make a World ID on the company’s platform that aims to verify that a user is human and can be used to verify that with other platforms, including Minecraft, Reddit, Telegram, Shopify and Discord.

The company has faced scrutiny from regulators and many jurisdictions have probed World over privacy concerns. Some countries, including Spain and Portugal, have suspended World’s activities over its data collection practices.

In addition to World’s US rollout, the company said at an event in San Francisco on April 30 that it would partner with Visa for a “World Visa card” to launch later this year for those who have scanned their eyeballs, which allows for payments using WLD tokens and other cryptocurrencies. 

The online dating giant Match Group, which owns Tinder, Hinge, Match.com and Plenty of Fish, will also begin a pilot program testing out World ID for its apps.

The firm said that the project aims to provide dating app users with the means of verifying that the profiles they interact with represent real people seeking real connections.

Related: World competitor Billions Network launches non-biometric digital ID

World has established separate partnerships with prediction market startup Kalshi and decentralized lending platform Morpho. 

Altman co-founded the project in 2019, when it was known as Worldcoin, to create a global identity verification system using the blockchain to combat fraud and bots. It rebranded to World in 2024 and currently has 26 million users globally, with 12 million of them verified through Orb scans. 

WLD prices initially jumped around 15% following the announcement. However, those gains have since been lost, with the token down more than 5% over the past 24 hours, trading at just over $1 at the time of writing. 

WLD is down more than 90% from its March 2024 all-time high of $11.74, according to CoinGecko. 

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