What is Worldcoin, the project that wants to give you free crypto in exchange for scanning your eyes?

After the success of OpenAI, Sam Altman has another futuristic-sounding idea – a project that involves giving away cryptocurrency to people in exchange for scanning their eyes. The firm, founded by Altman and theoretical physics student Alex Bania, has already raised $100 million in funding. Let’s take a closer look at Worldcoin: What is it? The company website describes its cryptocurrency as “an open-source protocol, supported by a global community of developers, individuals, economists and technologists committed to expanding participation in, and access to, the global economy.” It is “the first token to be globally and freely distributed to people, for both utility and future governance, just for being a unique individual,” the website states. “Nothing like this has ever been done before and the outcome is uncertain,” the company blog stated during its launch.

In essence, the project involves giving out free cryptocurrency to people who get their eyes scanned.

According to Indian Express, the aim behind Worldcoin is to create a global identity and financial network’. “[Worldcoin] started with a discussion that universal basic income will eventually be something that is very important to the world, and in general, getting access to the internet economy will be much more important than is obvious at this point,” Blania told TechCrunch. The project, set to launch in 2023, will give away around 10 billion in cryptocurrency – of which 80 per cent will go investors. [caption id=“attachment_12608852” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks before a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law hearing on artificial intelligence, on Capitol Hill in Washington. He highlighted the dangers AI presented to humans and urged for regulation. AP[/caption] Another 10 per cent will be given to the company, and the rest will be allotted to the investors, as per TechCrunch. It also has an app to allow payments, purchases and transfers using the crypto, as per Indian Express. According to Fortune, the company released the app which holds Bitcoin, Ethereum and Worldcoin last week. How does it work? Worldcoin has invented a device known as an orb through which users get their eyes scanned. According to CNBC,  the image is then encrypted and transformed into a unique code. The original data is then wiped after which users get some Worldcoin crypto.

These devices have already been sent to a dozen countries, according to CNBC.

“Cryptocurrency is a very powerful thing,” Blania told the outlet. “It will widen the boundaries of the economy in general and give many people access.” The company previously raised money from famed Silicon Valley investors and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman as well as  Khosla Ventures and Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX. It is already valued at $1 billion but its co-founder says this is largely meaningless as the ultimate goal is to make it into a foundation. “The equity of the company itself should not matter at all, basically,” Blania told TechCrunch. The company says it could ultimately be used to distribute Universal Basic Income, according to Barrons. The company claims 1.7 million people have already signed up for Worldcoin including 38,000 this past week, as per Barrons. Criticisms As expected, privacy advocates are not fans of Worldcoin. John Davisson, an attorney at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), told Vox this company and currency “should simply not exist”. Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight For the Future, added, “If your credit card number leaks, you can get a new credit card number but if a biometric scan of your face leaks, you can’t get a new face.” With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.