World ID keeps growing with passport credential option

World is continuing its planned expansion into new digital ID products with the pilot launch of its World ID Credentials in Chile, Colombia, Malaysia and South Korea. Other countries are to follow.

An announcement on World’s blog says the digital credential system allows users to “connect valid forms of ID (starting with NFC-enabled passports) to their World ID without sharing any information with TFH, the World Foundation or any other third party.”

TFH is Tools for Humanity, initially billed as the parent company of what was Worldcoin, but reclassified as a service provider – or, in the firm’s parlance, “contributor” – after the company rebranded to World at a showy live event in October.

The idea is to make World ID (and its associated crypto tokens) more accessible to more people – and more useful, offering “increased World ID utility.” Those who sign up are eligible to receive extra WLD tokens. Being connected to World ID, they can also use the protocol to “privately prove things about themselves online beyond just their humanness and uniqueness” using data stored on their device. This could include information such as age or nationality.

The real bonus? Adding credentials to World ID Credentials doesn’t require an encounter with World’s iris-scanning Orb device. That’s also a move to increase reach, in that it invites those “who may not be close to an Orb but who have valid forms of identification to join and benefit from World Network more meaningfully” – and, again, to claim those extra tokens.

Takers will receive “around 25.83 WLD,” which as of today’s date is worth about $91 U.S. (Getting scanned at an Orb gets you around double that.)

It is both a practical and savvy move from the company, in that it potentially opens the World ID Network and its cryptocurrency to any one of the estimated 1.2 billion people on Earth with a passport. It also takes some of the focus away from the company’s raison d’etre of providing a way to prove one is human in a world overrun by AI deepfakes.

For now, the pilot is being rolled out on iOS for individuals with NFC-enabled passports from Chile, Colombia, Malaysia and South Korea who are currently located in those countries. Android support is forthcoming.

Business booming in Brazil

A recent piece in Bloomberg Linéa asks, “how much is your iris worth”? The current price for those having their irises scanned in Brazil is R$740 (US$122), which is (today) about 35 WLD – less than promised in the company’s most recent materials.

That said, price fluctuations have been a common feature since WLD’s launch; the company hit a high of US$11.31 on March 9, 2024, and bottomed out around US$1.35 in September before the rebrand.

Bloomberg notes that funds cannot be withdrawn until 29 days after users have their iris biometrics scanned, and then only in monthly increments. The goal is clearly to get people to reinvest their WLD; the company’s Vault feature allows them to do just that, and offers a 10 percent yield.

While Brazilian shopping malls are humming with eager Orb-seekers, World’s activities have (unsurprisingly) raised the hackles of Brazil’s National Data Protection Agency (ANPD), which in November initiated an oversight process to learn more about the firm’s privacy and data protection measures, in the context of the Brazilian General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD).

World has had frequent run-ins with regulators across the globe.

New assets arm sells WLD tokens to fund growth

Thus far, around 8 million people have communed with an Orb to enroll their iris biometrics and claim a World ID. Around the globe, 3828 Orbs can be found in 510 different locations. As outlined during the October event, World is aiming to sign up just about everybody: a recent blog says the network is seeing 300,000 visits to the Orb and adding more than 790,000 network users every week.

Yet with growth comes rising costs. To fund its rapid expansion, the project has sprung yet another subsidiary branch. World Assets Limited – which “conducts recurrent tranche-based WLD sales to trading firms” – is intended to create a “capital buffer” for the company, to “ensure financial resilience and operational continuity amid fluctuating market conditions.”

It has found some of the money it needs by raiding its treasury. Per the blog, World Assets recently sold 59.5 million WLD tokens (US$210m) to a select group of private institutional investors operating outside the U.S.

“To align these investors with the long-term orientation of the World project, those sales include a 1-year lock-up, followed by a 3-months daily linear unlock. The circulating supply of WLD will thus begin to increase correspondingly in approximately one year.”

The firm says tranche-based sales to trading firms are expected to continue, but that in the end “it is anticipated that World Network will become one of the first self-sustaining protocols (e.g., via protocol fees) and phase out the need to engage in token sales.”

Meanwhile, to prevent a glut of WLD in the U.S., its recent sales include measures to stop tokens sold outside the country from being sold back into it.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  cryptocurrency  |  digital ID  |  iris biometrics  |  proof of personhood  |  Tools for Humanity  |  World  |  World ID  |  World ID Credentials