World rebrand comes with governance shuffle, promise of decentralized ownership

By now, most who are familiar with the World digital ID project will associate it with its main public advocates, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Tools for Humanity CEO Alex Blania. But who is Chris “W” Waclawek? Or Phillip Sippl? Pascal Weinberger? How about “a Cayman Islands based professional director”?

Following World’s recent rebrand and announcement of a major expansion, the last four entities comprise the Board of Directors of the World Foundation. Tools for Humanity (TFH) – which was, until recently, acknowledged as its parent company and lead developer of the iris biometrics and digital identity venture – now asks to be credited as a “contributor.” The foundation’s website says it is “memberless” and “has no owners or shareholders.”

“The Foundation’s founding documents specifically contemplate DAO-driven governance,” it says, referring to blockchain-based Decentralized Autonomous Organization structures. “The documents make it possible, through a prescribed process, for the [DAO] / [Worldcoin community] to make recommendations to the Foundation’s Board of Directors. The Board is then bound to ‘observe, implement, carry out, action and execute with best efforts any and all DAO Recommendations,’ subject to directors’ fiduciary duties and legal requirements.”

Circular structure of World governance spins outward toward decentralization

World is aiming to project a sense of infinite openness and communal ownership as it sprints toward its vision of “a globally-inclusive identity and financial network, owned by the majority of humanity.” But even if everyone co-owns the boat, who is driving?

Crunchbase tells us that “Chris Waclawek is an Executive at Worldcoin. He attended the University of Warsaw.” His bio on X promises “techno optimism & infinite games.” Phillip Sippl is German; there is not a ton of public information on him beyond that. LinkedIn tells us that Pascal Weinberger, sole director of Weinberger Ventures GmbH, is “building cool new things.” Presumably, someone in the Cayman Islands puts down their surfboard long enough to attend Zoom calls. These four govern the World Foundation, the “initial steward” of the decentralized open source World protocol and its biometric mission.

World Foundation is also the sole member and sole director of World Assets Ltd., “a business company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands,” which distributes Worldcoin (WLD) tokens to the World Network. World Assets Ltd. is “solely responsible for the content of the World documentation located at whitepaper.worldcoin.org.”

Where do Sam Altman and Alex Blania fit in? They are credited, along with Max Novendsternnow, as co-founders of the Worldcoin project. At this stage, Altman is largely being positioned as the chief prophet of World, a figurehead to lead the new faith. He is on course to accrue wealth on par with Mark Zuckerberg and other tech billionaires, and be lionized in the manner of Steve Jobs as an icon of technological transformation.

Blania, meanwhile, is the CEO of TFH, which World defines as “a global technology company established to accelerate the transition towards a more just economic system, with its headquarters in San Francisco and a wholly-owned subsidiary in Bavaria, Germany.” TFH developed the Worldcoin protocol and supported the beta testing phase, but “transitioned the protocol to the independent World Foundation prior to the protocol’s launch in late July 2023.”

Now, TFH is technically a vendor, providing “software development, hardware manufacturing and market operations logistical support.” It owns and operates World App, a key component in the World digital ecosystem, but its governance is separate from the World Foundation.

World’s case for transforming human society could use some diversity

World has the loftiest of goals, a rosy vision of a utopia in which human and machine coexist in harmony, governed by a decentralized network of peers. Its messages are evangelical in tone: “World is built to connect, empower and be owned by everyone.” The very names “World” and “Tools for Humanity” vibrate at a messianic pitch.

But the seed determines the root structure. The men behind these ventures are, colloquially, “crypto bros”: entrepreneurs and investors who hover around the central brain of Silicon Valley, where every grandiose promise has mutated into a behemoth of commerce and destabilization.

No one on World’s board brings demonstrable expertise in ethics, philosophy, sustainability or governance. These, it would seem, are still not requirements for an organization whose stated aim is “to realize more inclusive, fair and just institutions of governance and of the global digital economy.”

World wants to be owned by everyone, but for now it is still, in essence, six or seven white guys with a bagful of algorithms and infinite ambition. Perhaps this explains why, following the big-hoopla announcement of its expansion by Blania and Altman last week, WLD tokens dropped 10 percent in value.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital ID  |  Tools for Humanity  |  World