OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's futuristic crypto and digital identity project, World, has officially debuted in the United States. It is available across six major US cities, Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, and San Francisco. Formerly called Worldcoin, the platform employs a biometric orb to scan users' eyes and faces and grants them a World ID in return for WLD tokens.
The World crypto project, as of April 30, has partnered with Visa to introduce a World Visa Card. The cardholders will be able to make payments in WLD tokens and other cryptocurrencies. The card is set to go live later this year.
Sam Altman’s new company has also made a shocking crossover into online dating. Match Group, the parent company of Tinder, Hinge, and Match.com, is piloting World ID integration to verify user profiles. The action aims to eliminate fake accounts and bots, an increasing issue in the dating app environment.
World ID will also be integrated into sites such as Minecraft, Reddit, Telegram, Shopify, and Discord. Thus, allowing users to verify their humanity throughout the internet.
Sam Altman’s crypto project has experienced privacy-related criticism across a number of nations. For instance, in Spain and Portugal, activities were halted over concerns regardinging the company’s data collection methodologies.
Despite the controversies, the World now has 26 million users globally, 12 million of which were confirmed via the Orb scan. Initially established in 2019 as Worldcoin, the venture renamed itself World in 2024.Thus, taking a place at the intersection of digital ID authentication and crypto usefulness.
World has also partnered with Kalshi, a platform for prediction markets, and Morpho, a lending protocol for being decentralized. The collaborations are aimed to learn about potential applications outside identity.
After the news of the US listing, WLD token prices started rising up to 15%, although for a short duration. The token currently trades around more than 5% less in the previous 24 hours at slightly more than US$1. Although it is still more than 90% away from its record high of US$11.74 set in March 2024.
It remains to be seen if the US launch of World will boost its price and result in more collaborations or if it will be a failed attempt.