New crypto unicorn Worldcoin announced its plan to let everyone claim free coins in order to accelerate crypto adoption around the world.
Over 100,000 users participated in the test period of Worldcoin, which has been co-founded by Alex Blania, Sam Altman, and Max Novendstern, and aims to reach over a billion users within two years.
To put things into perspective, there will be over 300 million crypto users by the end of 2021.
Alex Blania, co-founder and CEO of Worldcoin, said that the project was launched in early 2020. “Sam thought it was time we launched a new, collectively owned, globally distributed cryptocurrency,” said Blania.
Worldcoin is a cryptocurrency built on top of the Ethereum blockchain, which allows anyone to create accounts, submit transactions, and participate in the validation process. Its mainnet launch is expected next year.
According to Blania, Worldcoin’s inclusive ecosystem, its distribution of free coins, and its incentives for signing up are three levers to encourage greater adoption of cryptocurrency. The Worldcoin signup process does not require previous financial resources.
Throughout the world, independent entrepreneurs will operate these devices as “Orb operators” to verify whether the person is real and has claimed their free share. Eye scans of a user will be used to make sure that no person should not claim a free coin more than once.
Using an eye scan immediately raises privacy concerns. According to the announcement, the Orb will replace the image of a person’s eye with a numeric code so that the original image will not be stored or uploaded.
To maintain users’ privacy, this code won’t be linked to their wallets or transactions. Users will still be able to access the Worldcoin network without providing an eye scan, but they will not be able to earn any free coins.
To make the onboarding process easier, the team is creating a non-custodial mobile wallet app that facilitates transactions between users and acts as a navigation tool for locating nearby Orb operators.
The company aims to distribute 50,000 Orbs per year, possibly with the upcoming funding round over the next few months.
