An eyeball-scanning crypto project that’s backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has launched in the U.S., Tools for Humanity, the venture’s developer, announced Wednesday evening. Originally dubbed Worldcoin, the project, now rebranded to World, aims to scan human’s irises through an orb to prove that humans aren’t AI. In return, participants receive a cryptocurrency called WLD.
Americans can now access the eyeball-scanning orb, claim cryptocurrency, and use the associated World app. The project is first rolling out its iris scanners in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville and San Francisco, according to a press release.
When it first launched in July 2023, World deliberately avoided launching its cryptocurrency in the U.S. because of regulatory concerns. “Worldcoin consists of a privacy-preserving digital identity (World ID) and, where laws allow, a digital currency (WLD) received simply for being human,” Altman and Tools for Humanity CEO Alex Blania wrote in a letter published along with the project’s launch. “We hope that, where the rules are less clear, such as in the U.S., steps will be taken so more people can benefit from both.”
While they weren’t explicit, the pair was likely referring to the crackdown on the crypto industry under former President Joe Biden and Gary Gensler, the former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
World isn’t the only crypto project to set up shop in the U.S. after President Donald Trump assumed office in January and Gensler resigned. Earlier in April, the crypto exchange OKX announced its American relaunch after it reached a $504 million settlement with the Department of Justice in February. And on Monday, the crypto lender and financial services provider Nexo said it will return to the U.S. after exiting the country in 2022.
“Thanks to the vision and leadership of President Donald J. Trump, his administration, and his family, the United States is once again a place where innovation is championed, not stifled,” Nexo cofounder Antoni Trenchev said in a statement announcing his firm’s return.
Under Trump, whose family has launched a suite of their own crypto businesses, the federal government has relaxed its regulatory oversight of the crypto industry. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the SEC have defanged their crypto litigation units. The Justice Department has also disbanded a unit dedicated to crypto-related investigations. And the SEC has dropped a slew of cases against crypto firms, including Coinbase, Crypto.com, Uniswap, Yuga Labs, Kraken, and Ripple.
Cofounded by Altman in 2019, World is one of crypto’s more ambitious projects. It aims to verify humans’ “proof of personhood” using proprietary orbs and blockchain-based software. Especially as AI companies, including Altman’s own OpenAI, grow in influence, World wants to develop a mechanism to allow actual people to prove their identity online, as well as to create a decentralized currency. While the company has courted hundreds of millions of dollars in venture funding, it has also sparked widespread concerns over privacy and crackdowns from governments around the world.
Blania, the CEO of World-developer Tools for Humanity, has said he wants World to scan billions of people’s eyes. The project has only scanned about 12 million people so far. While a U.S. launch opens up the project to millions of more users, it remains unclear whether the cryptocurrency’s availability will encourage Americans to sign up.