Those betting long on Worldcoin not stirred by OpenAI drama

Tools for Humanity’s cryptocurrency Worldcoin has taken a little slap since its chair and cofounder, Sam Altman, was summarily fired as CEO of OpenAI.

Anyone looking at WLD’s price journey over any period longer than a week could be forgiven for not finding anything alarming related to OpenAI‘s tempest.

Financial news service Bloomberg said the value of the digital token tied to biometric identification dropped against the dollar from $2.48 to $1.84 after Altman’s departure became public November 17.

It been a volatile few days to be sure, but WLD’s value had quickly recovered to the neighborhoods it occupied right after its debut. And its trading volume has been elevated and spiky, but nothing unprecedented.

Any roiling at all related to Altman’s employment status is not great news for the cryptocurrency. It might indicate that WLD’s tied to a personality and not on intrinsic market value.

Altman remains chairman of Tools for Humanity, the company that launched Worldcoin. And the Worldcoin project includes a digital identity called World ID, for which Altman wants to scan every human’s irises.

The biometric scans would give everyone digital personhood, and at the moment, those who do have their irises scanned can claim a nominal sum in Worldcoin. It’s a plan that has generated some criticism.

OpenAI, meanwhile, was formed with the intention of creating a safe artificial general intelligence. The company’s chief product is ChatGPT.

The board has so far only said they felt Altman was not being truthful with them about something.

Microsoft, OpenAI’s major investor, hired Altman, who has mounted a campaign to regain his CEO spot at OpenAI and oust the board that fired him.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  cryptocurrency  |  digital identity  |  OpenAI  |  Tools for Humanity  |  World