Worldcoin, the Sam Altman-backed digital id initiative, introduced a serious rebrand as World and unveiled formidable plans to develop its consumer base to 1 billion individuals throughout a keynote handle on Oct. 17.
The keynote, led by co-founders Altman and Alex Blania, marked a major shift within the venture’s trajectory after it introduced a collection of key updates designed to drive world adoption of its decentralized id platform.
The updates included the launch of World Chain, an Ethereum-secured Layer 2 blockchain, and the revealing of a brand new model of the venture’s biometric Orb gadgets.
Accelerating development
The rebranding highlights World Community’s evolving mission, transitioning from its unique id verification mannequin to a broader, extra decentralized community.
With 15 million customers at the moment, together with 7 million verified by its Orb expertise, the platform has set its sights on dramatically rising that quantity because it seems to onboard a billion verified human customers.
Blania, who can also be the CEO of Instruments for Humanity, famous that the venture is now centered on scalability and decentralization. He mentioned:
“Right now, we’re taking the subsequent massive step in our mission — scaling the World Community to succeed in 1 billion customers.”
World’s new model of the Orb, which scans a consumer’s iris to confirm their id, is central to the venture’s ambition to develop its world footprint. Blania mentioned World will triple its manufacturing capability and broaden into new international locations, together with flagship places in Buenos Aires and Mexico Metropolis.
The up to date Orbs shall be made accessible in public areas resembling cafes and can even be deliverable on demand, a part of a wider effort to make verification extra accessible. The rollout of those new Orbs is predicted by spring 2025.
World Chain and digital id
Alongside the growth of its biometric capabilities, World formally launched World Chain, a Layer 2 blockchain constructed on the Ethereum community.
The blockchain is designed to help tens of millions of customers. On its first day, the venture claimed 15 million registrations globally. In accordance with the corporate, this makes World Chain one of many largest human verification blockchains in existence.
The World App, a central element of the venture, is being up to date to Model 3.0. This replace will permit customers to handle their World ID credentials and entry different providers, resembling World Pay, a decentralized fee system, and World Chat, a messaging software.
The app may even introduce video games and a messaging system known as World Chat to additional interact customers and onboard extra individuals. Altman, who additionally leads OpenAI, mentioned World goals to be “the nameless human layer for the web,” serving to individuals distinguish themselves from AI actors.
He additional emphasised the rising significance of human id verification as AI continues to advance. In accordance with the OpenAI CEO:
“As AI turns into extra built-in into our lives, having a trusted human verification layer is essential.”
