Sam Altman shows long Japanese queue for Worldcoin

OpenAI chief Sam Altman shared a video from Japan showing a long queue of people waiting to have their retina scanned in exchange for Worldcoin (WLD) tokens.

After biometric verification, users receive 25 WLD (about $55 at the time of writing). The scanning is performed with the Orb device.

“One person is verified every eight seconds,” Altman said.

The core product of the project—the World ID protocol—is based on zero-knowledge proofs. It is a mobile tool that allows people to verify their identity by scanning their retina or by using a phone number.

On July 24, Worldcoin announced the official launch and release of the native token WLD. The listing of the new coin was supported by crypto exchanges Binance, Bybit and OKX.

The token is currently trading at $2.24, virtually unchanged on the day. According to CoinGecko, the coin’s market capitalization stands at $245 million.

Shortly before the launch, the number of registered World ID users reached 2 million.

In May, Chinese users who lacked access to the app began buying biometric data from third parties in African countries to obtain tokens for registration. The company pledged to take the necessary measures to combat such schemes.

In July, Worldcoinattracted the UK Information Commissioner’s Office. The project’s launch raises questions for the regulator about user data protection.