Worldcoin New Update: Everything You Need to Know

Author: revelointel Source: Revelo Intel Translation: Shan Ouba, Golden Finance

Crypto x AI is clearly the hottest topic right now, but it's currently combined in the form of memecoins, while more "real" projects built at the intersection of these two trends have received less attention recently. When it comes to AI innovation in the cryptocurrency space, Bittensor/$TAO is clearly at the top. In late 2023, people were interested in tokens like $RENDER and $IO because of their close ties to cloud computing and Nvidia, but Bittensor has become a leader in the field.

But people may have forgotten one of the highest-valued projects in the field that is closely related to artificial intelligence: Worldcoin. Worldcoin's $WLD token has risen 20% in the past week, making it one of the best performing tokens in the top 100. Previously, the New World event held in San Francisco demonstrated some new features.

Besides the market cap, $WLD also already has one of the highest FDVs of any crypto token at around $23 billion. Some may have forgotten this because Worldcoin hasn’t received much attention, and in fact it recently rebranded to “World”. This simple name change removes the crypto element from the name, reflecting key changes made to the protocol itself that extend far beyond crypto. This article will re-introduce World and its connections to big tech, and review the new upcoming changes revealed in the protocol’s latest announcement…

Background on Worldcoin

Amid the hype of $GOAT, people may have forgotten about Worldcoin. The project was launched with great controversy, as users had to scan their retinas to receive the tokens. The goal of World is simple and easy to understand. The protocol’s “moat” or what makes it unique is simply a physical Orb that has the unique ability to scan and verify an individual’s identity based on their retinas.

The idea is to use it as a kind of foolproof KYC through which a completely fair global universal basic income can be distributed. This is where the crypto element comes into play; users ideally living in developing countries can receive native $WLD tokens by scanning their retina.

The goals of the project are not complicated. Unlike most crypto protocols, what distinguishes World from other types of universal basic income projects is not the software or marketing, but the physical Orb and its ability to achieve near-flawless identity verification, of which there are not many to begin with.  

Another fact worth mentioning when talking about World is that it was co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. This, along with concerns about user privacy and invasiveness, has led to both positive and negative perceptions of the protocol. Now, the project is getting more attention for a different reason, namely its rebranding to "World, which also coincides with some new initiatives and capabilities.  

Orb, the UBI allocation mechanism that the entire World project relies on, will have a 2.0 version that will provide new ways of authentication. The launch of this new Orb is reportedly made possible by advances in Nvidia's new Jetson chipset. The new Orb is significantly smaller and can be held in one hand. In addition, Orb is easier to produce and deploy in new environments, making it accessible to more people around the world.

World ID V3 has also been released, which makes the identity verification process less invasive. People from certain countries can simply scan their passport on the World app, and receive $WLD tokens, without even having to scan it with a physical Orb. This is also done in a privacy-preserving manner, as the data is only stored locally on the user’s device and cannot be accessed by the World Foundation, addressing privacy concerns surrounding the project. World ID 3.0 is also equipped with anti-deepfake measures and can be integrated with things like video conferencing apps to verify identity. This alone is an important measure; but it’s one of several major announcements made recently.  

Another key area of ​​World expansion is enhancing the World app, specifically, building an app store within the app itself. This will move the World app somewhat in the direction of WeChat and Telegram, allowing apps to be run within World. The main advantage here is that apps can automatically integrate with World’s $WLD wallet and payment system, as well as access World’s identity verification. This has the potential to be a very strong moat that has more substance than brand recognition and user experience, which is what is driving a lot of integration in apps like WeChat.  

Finally, and most importantly, this week saw the launch of World Chain. This is probably the area of ​​World transformation that crypto-native users will be most interested in, but it is probably the least important focus compared to other initiatives. World Chain is now live, where users can access a variety of financial primitives, especially the opening and closing of stablecoins.

With over 15 million users, World Chain is the chain with the most DAUs to date. Currently, there is a consensus that the DAU numbers of most chains are barely reflective of real users, which gives World Chain an advantage. Built on the OP stack, World Chain has specific chain upgrade goals in place to expand its functionality as demand grows. Initially, users' gas fees will be sponsored by the World Foundation, with the long-term goal of subsidizing gas through fees from power users and bots.  

Regardless of new developments, there will likely still be some naysayers who simply disagree with the premise of the World project. In the future, the crypto space may see a bifurcation of applications and projects, some bridging the gap between their Web2 counterparts and others that remain somewhat “raw” but still more permissionless. This describes a crypto landscape that some have predicted the industry will move closer to, where there is a regulated, more user-friendly crypto and an unregulated crypto, both existing simultaneously.