There is a shortage of bullets that scan everyone’s eyeballs, according to a new report from Worldcoin, the project that gives out free cryptocurrency in exchange for biometric data Traffic lights. But Tools for Humanity, the startup behind Worldcoin, seems to think that’s a good sign. Apparently 10 million people in 160 countries were willing to give their scans in exchange for free cryptocurrencies.
Tools for Humanity was founded in 2019 by Sam Altman of OpenAI and CEO Alex Blania as a kind of experiment in universal basic income. Anyone willing to have their eyes scanned will receive 10 Worldcoin (a total of about $50 at the current price), and three Worldcoin every two weeks thereafter, according to Semafor. The program is currently unavailable to people in the US, which Americans can interpret as either a good or bad sign depending on their feelings about cryptocurrencies.
Semafor reports that there are currently somewhere between 300 and 500 Worldcoin Orbs in the world, and while the original idea was to make the devices mobile so they could be taken wherever people congregate, that seems to be the idea to be popular like Worldcoin can be, stand still and let people come to you. In fact, they’re inundated with so many people that the balls can’t be made fast enough.
Everyone loves free money, even if it means giving up sensitive information, but what is the business model? Although there are some very well-known investors, this part is not clear, at least officially. Worldcoin announced its own blockchain built on the Ethereum network last week, and World Assets, a subsidiary of the Worldcoin Foundation, announced Tuesday that it will be selling a whole lot of crypto in the near future CoinTelegraph.
Oddly enough, anyone who tries to visit the announcement page from the US will be met with a notice that it’s not accessible to Americans, as you can see in the screenshot below. The US has been cracking down on cryptocurrencies in recent years following the spectacular implosion of FTX thanks to the shenanigans of Sam Bankman Fried. But Worldcoin is more than happy to bring its orb scanner to other parts of the world.
Tools for Humanity is obviously aware of how dystopian the whole concept sounds. And the company insists it takes privacy very seriously.
“To prioritize privacy, all liveness verification occurs on the device itself. Additionally, anyone can verify their humanity on an orb without providing information such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, social profiles, etc.,” it says it on the Worldcoin website explained.
Semafor reports that strong skepticism about Worldcoin is waning, although the news outlet only cites an article from Business Insider from July 2023 in an attempt to prove this point. The headline to this article doesn’t express the claim well: “We tried Sam Altman’s eyeball-scanning Worldcoin bullets. It all felt too understated to be truly dystopian.” Because as we all know, understated endeavors are never sketchy. And creating your own currency out of thin air is not the case don’t raise any red flags historical.
Worldcoin’s price has had quite a rollercoaster ride since its launch in July 2023, fluctuating between $1 and $2 in the first few months before seeing a big spike in February and reaching an all-time high of just over $10.60 in March. dollars reached CoinMarketCap. Since then, the price has declined and is now around $5.
Tools for Humanity did not respond to emailed questions about the orb shortage Wednesday. We’ll update this post if we hear anything.