The two co-founders of the Worldcoin company, Sam Altman and Alex Bania, officially launched the new cryptocurrency, equipped with an identification system based on iris scanning.
"More than three years ago, we launched Worldcoin with the ambition of creating a new identity and a financial network owned by everyone. This starts today".
With this announcement, the two co-founders of the Worldcoin company, Sam Altman and Alex Bania, officially launched a new cryptocurrency.
It is called Worldcoin, like the company, and is equipped with an identification system based on scan of the human iris.
Worldcoin
The company has raised $250 million to date. His investors include top names in US venture capital such as Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, and Reid Hoffman. The project is one of the most ambitious in the crypto world.
The goal is in fact to create a universal crypto, but to succeed and be sure that there is only one person behind a smartphone, the disturbing element of the matter enters, worthy of a dystopic storyo, ie the request for iris scan.
In order to ensure that this global digital currency is distributed to everyone in the world in a fair and equitable way, the new project uses, in fact, a system of biometric identification via iris recognition to have access to a digital currency (although it is more accurate to speak of token).
Initially, the company promoted a free distribution of 75% of the "WLD" tokens to two million individuals in 30 different countries.
However, this "bounty" required users to validate their identity through World ID, an authentication system that detects and records users’ iris.
The idea of using biometrics to grant access may seem futuristic and secure, but it raises legitimate concerns about protection of personal data and the possible vulnerability of the system to the risks of hacking and abuse.
The Orb Technology
In order to receive this currency, you must have your iris scanned using Orb, a device capable of capturing an image of a person’s eye to read their iris, to prove that you are truly a human being and not a bot and to therefore establish the identity and uniqueness of the person and verify that the user has not already registered previously.
Once the individual’s identity has been verified, a certain number of Worldcoin tokens will be sent free of charge. These tokens can be used "in a wide variety of daily applications without revealing the user’s identity", even if it is not yet clear how and for what.
The iris image, once scanned, is encrypted and becomes a unique code, while the original data - according to the creators of the company - are eliminated to protect user privacy. In short, the company promises data will never be shared with third parties nor will they be stored on servers.
What about privacy?
What causes discussion is precisely the way everything will happen. This will inevitably be the subject of discussion due to the implications it entails in terms of protection of privacy.
Numerous criticisms have come from those who accuse Altman of using the excuse of the crypto network to collect data on the irises of the world’s population.
According to Altman, using orb technology does not involve uploading or storing the image itself. The idea is to develop a crypto-asset system not based on passwords and wallets but on the simple identification of the iris for accessing the value possessed.
But is Altman to be trusted, many ask?
The company’s promise of privacy and pseudonymization of data has been met with skepticism from many independent observers. Biometric data collection and storage on a global scale can have serious implications for individuals’ security and freedom, especially the most vulnerable sections of the population.
Additionally, the total number of WLD tokens issued appears to be well above the limit announced in the white paper, and this discrepancy has raised further questions about the transparency and reliability of the company’s claims.
Restricted access to the page containing this information raises suspicions that the company is trying to hide some important information regarding the token distribution.
A universal income?
The other novelty is that potential earnings could act as universal income in compensation for job losses caused by artificial intelligence spread. A project that has been talked about for years in Silicon Valley, at least among tycoons who are well aware that automation and AI will replace hundreds of millions of jobs.
The idea of financing a universal basic income through artificial intelligence may seem fascinating, but it is also a very optimistic and questionable view.
Altman’s predictions regarding AI revenues to support citizens have also been met with skepticism by other companies in the sector, showing that the issue is still far from being resolved or trusted.
Among the very first lenders of the project are the crypto fund of Andreessen Horowitz and Sam Bankman-Fried, the former number one of the crypto exchange Ftx which went bankrupt last November.
Precisely because of the latter’s involvement, Worldcoin had come to a halt.
Original article published on Money.it Italy 2023-07-26 08:00:00. Original title: Altman e Bania lanciano ufficialmente Worldcoin, la criptovaluta che scansiona l’iride
