Worldcoin is at it again. But at what? Biometrics player switching from stablecoin

Rare is the move made by Worldcoin Foundation or its founder Sam Altman that does not leave a non-zero percentage of intelligent people wondering, WTF?

Worldcoin exists to encourage all of humankind to be cryptocurrency users and, to make that happen, it collects the irises of people to create reliable and, one hopes, secure digital IDs.

This week, organization announced it is changing how it rewards the people who collect irises using a Worldcoin device called orbs. They had been awarded a so-called stablecoin, a cryptocurrency created to avoid the vertiginous swings typical of the market. Now they will be compensated with WLD, Worldcoin’s cryptocurrency.

Why? Not clear.

The company also is reducing by 25 percent the 100 million WLD that had been loaned to market makers, professional traders paid to act as transaction intermediaries, buying and selling currency or public shares to keep the WLD market liquid.

The 25 percent will be returned to Worldcoin and will not be immediately put up for sale. That will reduce the supply of WLD on the market.

Why? Probably to increase the value of the currency (due to scarcity). Probably.

Maybe feeling the need for more ambiguity in the world, Altman, who remains CEO of AI player OpenAI, rigged his announcement to not display in the United States.

Why? Maybe because the regulatory picture for a company like Worldcoin is threatening, and that persuaded Altman to not set up shop in the U.S. Of course, that does not answer why he wanted to make it harder for people in the U.S. to know what’s happening with Worldcoin.

Or there’s another motivation entirely to be sprung on the world at a later date. Altman has no shortage of suspicious governments coming around.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  cryptocurrency  |  data collection  |  digital ID  |  iris biometrics  |  World