By Hassan Mehmood (Saudi Arabia)
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has launched a new cryptocurrency project called Worldcoin (WLD). It is a layer-2 cryptocurrency based on an Ethereum network that harnesses its security feature.
The cryptocurrency has gained considerable momentum since its launch, around 88% in the last 24 hours as per CoinGecko. It is important to note that the project was launched only recently.
The project focuses on Proof-of-Personhood or PoP using iris-scan technology. Investors can record their Worldcoin IDs using a device called Orb. The data is collected as a proof of real human being and it is recorded using various encryption techniques such as ZK-SNARKs.
The issuer of the project has published a whitepaper, sharing important details about the project such as decentralized verification of human operators and its ability to prevent Sybil attacks for airdrops, DAOs, and tickets. Users can install the application and upload the iris scan data from Orb to create a unique iris hash.
Worldcoin has been listed by Binance, Bitget, Huobi, Bybit, Gate.io, KuCoin, and OKX within hours of its launch. There are also a slew of other cryptocurrency exchanges that have listed the token.
However, Buterin has shared some important obstacles that may hinder the progress of the PoP cryptocurrency. The first issue he shared is the threat to privacy maintaining that if someone manages to scan the iris of a person they will be able to check if they have a World ID or not.
Also read:He also talked about the limitation of user-data access since the device is tied to Orb scanning. He claimed that it is most likely that the orb may be limited to urban areas on account of its equipment dependence. The third issue that he shared was regarding centralization that stems from the lack of verification of the Worldcoin device construction.
He also said that Worldcoin engineers have the option to create a backdoor to create fake human identities. However, he has attested to the vision of the developers to increase decentralization over time.
Vitalik Buterin Shares a Solution to Upscale Worldcoin Infrastructure
The fourth point shared by Buterin claims that Proof-of-Personhood is a valuable project that can gain more value by adding updates. There are some WLD that allows users to register using their phone number in the absence of an orb.
However, Ethereum co-founder believes that people can be exposed to phone hacks, coerced iris scans, smuggling fake IDs, renting digital IDs, and even 3D printing fake humans. It is important to note that the iris-scan data is not present in hashed versions and is secured using encryption techniques.
After highlighting the issues about the new project, Buterin has shared some possible solutions to address these issues. He said that the WLD can combine 3 modes for ID verification namely social-graph-metrics, general-biometric, and specialized-biometric authentication.
He exclaimed that multiple outlets for user identification can reduce the risk of fake identities. The project completed its migration to OP Mainnet, a layer-2 Ethereum scaling solution last week.
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