• Worldcoin has launched its mainnet and WLD token and has gained support from people worldwide who are willing to have their irises scanned.
• There are concerns over the potential privacy risks associated with the company collecting users’ eye data.

Worldcoin, Sam Altman’s crypto project, launched its mainnet and WLD token on Monday, July 24, 2023. The projects have since received overwhelming support as myriads of people accessing Japan, Africa, Britain, and India, among other countries, line up to have their irises scanned. The company is scanning willing participants’ eye irises and digital IDs in exchange for WLD tokens. 

The OpenAI CEO said that Worldcoin aims to create an “identity and financial network” and that the digital ID will allow users to prove that they are human, among other functions.

At a crypto function in Tokyo, applicants lined up in front of a silver globe flanked by placards stating: “Orbs are here.” each verified applicant received 25 free Worldcoin tokens. In exclusive interviews, some applicants expressed their concerns over the collected data but gained some confidence since the company claimed to have issued digital IDs to more than 2 million people across 120 countries. 

There’s a risk with having the data of your own eyes collected by a company, but I like to follow the most up-to-date crypto projects.

 Saeki Sasaki said adding:

I was a bit scared, but I’ve done it now and can’t take it back.

To many applicants, the promise of financial freedom through the Worldcoin token is the most appealing thing about the project. A 22-year-old chemical engineering student in London said he had invested some of his student loan in crypto. He calculated that the 25 free tokens he got from Worldcoin could sell for $70 or $80 at the $2.30 price the token was selling on Binance. However, the token’s value might go up. 

Other applicants were curious about the development and wanted to see how the project went. Christian, a 34-year-old London-based graphic designer, is intrigued by AI and crypto and buys crypto just for fun. He said:

I think going forward AI will be hard to distinguish from human, and I think this potentially solves that problem and that’s pretty amazing 

Both applicants admitted that they had not read Worldcoin’s privacy policy, which dictates that governments and authorities might access the data, though the encryption details are unclear. 

Worldcoin is a Potential Privacy Nightmare

The project by OpenAI co-founder has brought different reactions within the crypto and technology community, with Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey being among the latest to air his concerns. 

On Wednesday, Altman tweeted a video of volunteers lining up to get their irises scanned and captioned it, ‘Day 3 of Worldcoin launch, crazy lines around the world. One person is getting verified every 8 seconds now.’ Jack retweeted the post with a disappointed face emoji, expressing disapproval alongside other reactors. 

Worldcoin’s data collection is a “potential privacy nightmare,” said the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a U.S. privacy campaigner.

Dorsey’s reaction is among the many skeptic responses that Worldcoin has received over the last three days from influential people across the technology and crypto world. 

During the project’s launch, Dorsey initially showed his reservations about Woldcoin by commenting, “Visit the Orb, or the Orb will visit you.” 

The Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, commented that Worldcoin might erode people’s ability to remain anonymous online, which could lead to potential unavoidable privacy breaches.