Worldcoin goes live, expands orb access across 35 cities

Blockchain-based digital identity company, cofounded by Chat GPT’s Sam Altman, has gone live with its world app. In addition, it announced that it is adding 1,500 more orbs across 35 cities worldwide — including two African cities — to increase its capacity to register more people. 

The details 

• The company’s press release stated that the new orbs will be rolled out on July 24, and will be fully operational across these cities, including Nairobi and Kampala, by the end of the year.  
• With this development, Worldcoin’s users can now get their iris scanned by an orb close to them and receive a world identity linked to the biometric iris scan.  
• The company added that it has verified the identities of more than 40,000 individuals per week for the last six months. It is now looking to increase its capacity to register more individuals more than five times over. 

Key quote 

• Worldcoin’s release read: 

“Worldcoin consists of a privacy-preserving digital identity (World ID) and, where laws allow, a digital currency (WLD) received simply for being human...You can now download World App, the first protocol-compatible wallet, and reserve your share. After visiting an Orb, a biometric verification device, you will receive a World ID.” 

Be informed  

• Worldcoin aims to digitize the identity of humans and pay them equal amounts of cryptocurrency upon registering their identities with the company. 
• To record these identities, Worldcoin uses orbs — silver, eye-like round objects — to scan individuals’ irises. Biometric data from the scan is used to create a unique digital identity on a database of verified humans. 
• Upon registering their identities, individuals are rewarded with 25 coins in a social initiative to achieve an even distribution of wealth among all people worldwide. 

Blurry background 

• The system has been embroiled in some controversy. According to a Mariblock report, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics (IEEE) alleged that Worldcoin developed a system for third parties to leverage its register of individuals for a host of identity-focused applications. 
• In addition, others have questioned the company’s move to issue identities merely by scanning an individual’s iris without linking it to any other forms of verified identification. As such, it is not entirely impossible to fake an iris scan and create a fake identity. 
• The company did not immediately respond to questions for more clarification.

Further reading

Deception, exploited workers, and cash handouts: How Worldcoin recruited its first half a million test users (MIT Technology Report)

Inside the Orb: The Untold Story of Worldcoin’s Launch (Coindesk)

Worldcoin, co-founded by ChatGPT’s Sam Altman, expands into mainstream Kenya, but security and privacy concerns lurk (Mariblock)