Sam Altman’s Worldcoin eyeball-scanning crypto project launches

Worldcoin, Sam Altman’s crypto startup with the vision to “drastically increase economic opportunity,” has started the global rollout of its services, more than three years after it began its work.

The startup, which has raised about $250 million altogether and counts Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures and Reid Hoffman among its backers, said it’s rolling out its identity technology as well as the token internationally. Individuals can download World App, the startup’s protocol-compatible wallet software and visit an Orb, the startup’s helmet-shaped eyeball-scanning verification device, to receive their World ID.

As TechCrunch has previously noted, Worldcoin is perhaps one of the most audacious efforts to bribe the world to embrace their currency. The startup, founded by OpenAI CEO Altman and Alex Blania, wants to put a crypto wallet (and some of their currency) onto every human’s smartphone, but in order to do so they have to build a way to determine whether someone is a unique human.

Worldcoin has been quietly signing up individuals in many countries, including India, giving those onboarding 25 Worldcoin tokens.

Worldcoin is holding about 20% of all its tokens, which are not launching in the U.S. for now, the startup told Financial Times.

“If successful, we believe Worldcoin could drastically increase economic opportunity, scale a reliable solution for distinguishing humans for AI online while preserving private, enable global democratic processes, and eventually show a potential path to AI-funded UBI,” said the statement in a statement.

Worldcoin is an “attempt at global scale alignment,” it said, prompting a jab from Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder and no stranger to the world of cryptocurrency, who found it “cute.”

More to follow.