Worldcoin

Worldcoin is a blockchain-based protocol co-founded by Sam Altman, Alex Blania, and Max Novendstern, with the primary goal of creating a global digital identity and financial network. Its core innovation is the World ID, a privacy-preserving digital identity that uses a custom biometric device called the Orb to verify a person's unique humanness through iris scanning, establishing a proof-of-personhood without revealing personal data. The network's native cryptocurrency, the WLD token, is intended to be distributed to verified individuals, aiming to create a more equitable framework for universal basic income (UBI) and global financial access.

The protocol operates on a dual-token model. The World ID serves as a Sybil-resistant credential, allowing users to prove they are a unique human online without linking to their real-world identity, which is crucial for applications like democratic governance, airdrops, and social media. The WLD token functions as the network's utility and governance asset, used for payments, grants, and protocol governance. This separation ensures that identity verification is not directly tied to financial incentives, maintaining the integrity of the proof-of-personhood system.

Technically, Worldcoin leverages zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) through its Semaphore protocol to enable anonymous authentication. When a user verifies their iris with an Orb, a IrisHash is created and checked against a global database to prevent duplicate registrations. If unique, a World ID is issued as a ZK-SNARK credential stored in a user's wallet. This allows for anonymous signaling (e.g., voting) while proving uniqueness. The network initially launched as an Ethereum sidechain using Optimism's OP Stack for scalability, with plans for further decentralization.

The project's vision extends beyond cryptocurrency distribution to establishing a foundational identity layer for the internet. Potential use cases include fair airdrops, one-person-one-vote governance models for DAOs, bot-resistant social networks, and targeted humanitarian aid. By solving the unique human verification problem at scale, Worldcoin aims to become a critical piece of infrastructure for a more democratic and inclusive digital economy, though its approach has sparked significant debate regarding privacy, centralization of the Orb hardware, and ethical data collection.

Worldcoin operates on a two-token model: the WLD governance token and a local currency stablecoin for transactions. The protocol's foundational innovation is the World ID, a digital passport that uses a custom hardware device called the Orb to perform iris scans. This process generates a unique IrisHash, a one-way cryptographic representation of an individual's biometric data, which is stored on a decentralized network. This allows users to prove they are a unique human without revealing their personal identity, a concept known as proof of personhood.

The verification process begins when a user visits an Orb operator. The Orb captures an image of the user's iris to create the IrisHash. If this hash is not already on the World Chain (a Layer 2 blockchain built on Ethereum and optimized for the protocol), the user's World ID is verified and a cryptographic zero-knowledge proof (zk-proof) is generated. This proof allows the user to anonymously authenticate across various applications (dapps) that require sybil-resistance, such as voting systems or social media platforms, while the WLD token can be claimed as a grant.

The underlying infrastructure is secured by the Ethereum blockchain. The World ID credentials and the protocol's state are managed on-chain, ensuring decentralization and censorship resistance. The World App serves as the primary wallet for users to manage their World ID, hold WLD tokens, and interact with the ecosystem. This architecture separates the identity layer from the currency layer, enabling broad applications beyond finance, including democratic governance and equitable resource distribution in the age of artificial intelligence.

The name Worldcoin is a compound of "world" and "coin," directly reflecting its foundational ambition to create a global, universally accessible digital currency and identity network. The term was coined by its founders, Sam Altman (co-founder of OpenAI), Alex Blania, and Max Novendstern, who announced the project in 2021. The "world" component signifies its intended planetary scale and inclusivity, aiming to transcend national and economic boundaries, while "coin" anchors it firmly in the domain of cryptocurrency and digital assets.

The project's origin is intrinsically linked to the rise of advanced artificial intelligence (AI). The founders postulated that as AI automates more human labor, a reliable mechanism for distinguishing humans from AI agents online—a globally-inclusive proof of personhood—would become critical. Worldcoin was conceived as a dual-purpose solution: a decentralized identity protocol (World ID) verified by unique human biometrics, and a universal basic income (UBI)-like distribution of its native cryptocurrency (WLD) to verified individuals. This economic layer was designed to facilitate a more equitable distribution of the wealth generated by AI.

The technological and philosophical origins of Worldcoin draw from several key areas of cryptography and economics. Its identity protocol is built upon zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs), allowing users to prove their unique humanity without revealing personal data. The distribution mechanism, initially involving a physical biometric device called the Orb, was a novel attempt at sybil-resistant airdrops. The project's structure, governed by the Worldcoin Foundation and Tools for Humanity, embodies a tension between the decentralized ideals of crypto and the centralized, real-world logistics required for biometric verification at a global scale.