OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has an ambitious mission to create something unique with Worldcoin. The crypto project aims to create a global ID, a global currency and an app for all kinds of cryptocurrency payments. The goal is to provide universal access to the global economy.
Tools for Humanity, the team behind Worldcoin, promises to hand out crypto tokens to anyone who has their iris scanned with the orb called The Orb. This idea has generated a lot of industry skepticism as asking for biometrics in a web3 world is a slippery slope. The Orb should play a central role in helping Worldcoin enable universal access to the global economy.
What is the Orb and how does it work?
According to the Worldcoin website, the Orb is a biometric imaging device that privately and securely verifies an individual’s unique personality. To sign up for World ID and receive a free share of Worldcoin tokens, a user must visit a Worldcoin operator and verify their unique personality with an Orb. However, it is possible to use Worldcoin without going to an Orb.
The Orb’s first job is to determine if someone is an actual living person to create a global identity using a variety of camera sensors and machine learning models that analyze facial and iris features. Once that determination is made, the Orb takes a series of pictures of the subject’s irises and uses various machine learning models and other computer vision techniques to create an iris code, which is a numerical representation of key features of a person’s iris pattern. individual.
Worldcoin claims that all of these operations take place on the Orb in real time. No images ever leave the device unless an individual explicitly requests that their data be backed up for future upgrades and agrees to help us improve the system for everyone.
Worldcoin raises $115 million in a Series C round
Despite all the skepticism surrounding The Orb, investors seem to be the first to jump into this opportunity as the company raised $115 million in a Series C round from Blockchain Capital. Other investors in the latest funding round included a16z, Bain Capital Crypto and Distributed Global. In March last year, Worldcoin raised $100 million at a valuation of $3 billion.
Funds raised in the last round will go towards bot detection, research and development, and expansion of the Worldcoin project and application.
In a recent blog, Spencer Bogart, general partner at Blockchain Capital, wrote that he believes Worldcoin could become the biggest stepping stone to crypto and the World App could become the most widely used crypto wallet.
When will the Worldcoin be launched?
Worldcoin is currently in the beta testing phase and has approximately two million users on board on five continents. As of now, a US resident can get a World ID, but the World app tells users that there are no Orbs in the United States yet. “We’re working hard to bring Orbs to every country in the world,” the app says if you’re in one of those Orb-less countries.
While Worldcoin says its tokens are not intended to be available to people in the US, the Orb hardware will be seen in a few US cities in the coming months. Tool for Humanity has announced an Orb “tour” in which “Worldcoin Orbs will be available for a limited time” from May to July in Berlin, Dubai, London, Mexico City, Miami, New York City, San Francisco, Seoul and Tokyo.
Jai Pratap is a Crypto and Blockchain enthusiast with more than three years of working experience at various major media houses. His current role at CoinGape includes creating powerful web stories, breaking news, and writing editorials. When he is not working, he reads Russian literature or watches a Swedish film.
The content presented may contain the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market conditions. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or publication is not responsible for your personal financial loss.
This post Could Sam Altman’s Worldcoin Be the Future of Crypto Onboarding?
was published first on https://coingape.com/can-sam-altmans-worldcoin-be-the-future-of-crypto-onboarding/
