A Look at WorldCoin, The Cryptocurrency and Identity Project Designed for the Age of Artificial Intelligence

WorldCoin is described as an open-source protocol, or system, created to help give everyone access to the global economy.

According to its promoters, which include the CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, it’s designed to be decentralized, meaning that ultimately its supervision and decision-making will rest with its global community of users.

The system is composed of various tools that work together to help it achieve its mission. These include:

World ID – a digital humanness passport designed to let you prove you’re unique and human on the internet while keeping your identity private
The Orb – a custom, state-of-the-art device that privately and securely verifies humanness and uniqueness using an iris code
$WLD Token – a digital token to be freely distributed to people, for both utility and future governance, just for being a unique individual
World App – a fully self-custodial app built and operated by project contributor Tools for Humanity that enables payment, purchases and transfers globally using digital assets, stablecoins and traditional currencies

In an online world with increasingly advanced artificial intelligence (AI), WorldCoin, through World ID, can play an important role in demonstrating humanness.

WorldCoin Parent Organizations

The project is currently backed by various contributors, including the WorldCoin Foundation and Tools for Humanity.

The WorldCoin Foundation, a non-profit entity, is dedicated to nurturing and expanding the WorldCoin community until it achieves self-sustainability. Its efforts include managing community grant initiatives, releasing critical project technologies as open-source, facilitating user participation in protocol governance.
Tools for Humanity (TFH) is described as a global technology company established to accelerate the transition towards a more just economic system. It led the initial development of WorldCoin and is continuing to build tools and help support the protocol, in addition to operating World App.

How to Participate in WorldCoin

Step 1: Download World App

Downloading World App enables a person to set up their Worldcoin account, hold and verify their World ID and access a digital wallet connected to digital and traditional currencies. World ID verification is free, private and open to every human over the age of 18.

Step 2: Verify Your World ID

Verifying your World ID at an orb allows you to prove that you are human and unique, according to WorldCoin, and the project touts a growing number of integrated applications like Discord, Shopify, Telegram and Reddit. This means you can authenticate into these applications using your World ID.

World ID verification locations are managed by WorldCoin Operators and can be found on the WorldCoin website or in the World App. No operators are listed from Africa even though WorldCoin has conducted thousands of verifications in countries like Kenya.

According to WorldCoin, no information like name, email, phone number, etc. is required to download and use World App or to verify and use World ID. Additionally, all images used to verify an individual’s World ID are deleted by default.