Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, is reportedly close to securing $100 million for Worldcoin, a unique cryptocurrency that involves scanning people’s irises. Co-founded by Altman and Alex Blania in 2019, Worldcoin has an ambitious vision: to give a share of a new digital token to every human being on Earth. But what is Worldcoin and how has it attracted such funding amid a crypto winter? Worldcoin is a crypto project that aims to create a global identity and financial network for everyone. It uses a device called an orb that scans people’s irises to prove they are unique and human, and rewards them with Worldcoin tokens. It also has a World App that enables payment, purchases and transfers using Worldcoin and other digital assets. Worldcoin plans to launch in the first half of 2023 and distribute 10 billion tokens in total, with 80% going to users. In early 2020, Alex Blania started working with Worldcoin cofounders Sam Altman and Max Novendstern. The question driving them was simple: “What if there were a way to freely distribute shares of a new digital token to every person on the planet?” The three founders believed that the more people hold the currency, the easier it would be to send and receive payments with it.
Full explainer : What is Worldcoin, the iris-scanning cryptocurrency backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
