DeBox Research Institute | Author: Yi | Date of writing: July 27

Summary

On July 24, 2023, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI and co-founder of Worldcoin, announced on Twitter that the Worldcoin project was officially launched. The Worldcoin project includes the digital identity WorldID and the digital token WLD. Worldcoin currently has more than 2 million participating test users around the world. Real users verified by Orbs will initially receive 25 WLD tokens (as of July 28, 25 WLD are worth approximately 55 USD). This article will introduce the Worldcoin project ecology in detail and give a strategy for Hong Kong Orbs certification.

1. Introduction to Worldcoin project

Project and founder background

Worldcoin is a Crypto project founded by OpenAI founder Sam Altman. The birth of ChatGPT developed by OpenAI in November 2022 started the AI ​​craze. A large number of users poured into ChatGPT, making its developer OpenAI successfully promoted to unicorn with a valuation of over 20 billion US dollars. The encryption project founded by Sam Altman after ChatGPT became popular. Worldcoin has also gained public attention.

Project Vision

Worldcoin can allow everyone to participate in the global digital economy in the future, greatly increasing global equality of opportunity through universally accessible decentralized finance and identity infrastructure. To put it simply, Worldcoin is giving everyone a fair “welfare pension”.

• Finance (Personal Digital Wallet): Everyone can conduct financial transactions globally instantly and without borders.

• Identity (Human Proof KYC): Provides maximum protection against bots, such as bots on Twitter, spam and robocalls. A lot of noise could be filtered out of the digital world if every message or transaction included the "verified human" attribute.

• Combining finance and identity:

• Incentive distribution: Ways of sharing value such as coupons, loyalty programs, referral programs, etc. have traditionally been vulnerable to fraud, while digital identities facilitate incentive distribution, benefiting both consumers and companies.

• Fair distribution of limited resources: Subsidies and social benefits in modern societies can be made more equitable through the use of human identification. In 2021, India saved $5 billion in subsidy schemes by implementing biometric-based systems. A decentralized human identification protocol can extend similar benefits to any project or organization around the world. World ID can ensure that each individual is registered only once and ensures fair distribution.

Worldcoin Financing Status

Super luxury financing background: well-known investment institutions such as a16z, Coinbase, Multicoin Capital, and 1confirmation participated in the investment; as well as the founders of LinkedIn, SBF, Mirror, and the Web Foundation, all participated in the angel round. The two rounds of financing totaled US$125 million.

2. Ecological composition of Worldcoin

Worldcoin consists of a privacy-preserving digital identity network (World ID) and, where permitted by law, a digital currency (WLD). To participate in the Worldcoin ecosystem, individuals must first download the World App, and then access a physical imaging device called Orb (iris verification) to obtain a World ID verified by Orb. Worldcoin tokens are given to the World ID verified by Orb. rewards.

World app

The first front-end to support the creation of World IDs, it guides individuals to authenticate through Orb, saves individual World ID credentials in a privacy-preserving manner, and implements cryptographic protocols to share these credentials with third parties. It aims to provide frictionless access to global decentralized financial infrastructure. There should be many different wallets integrating World ID in the future.

Figure 1 Worldcoin QR code

World ID

Through zero-knowledge proofs, it enables users to verify their human identity in an online environment while preserving privacy. Users can obtain World ID through a custom biometric device called the Orb. World ID is issued through the Worldcoin protocol, which allows individuals to prove to any validator (including Web2 applications) that they are human while protecting privacy through zero-knowledge proofs. Other certificates may also be issued on the protocol in the future. The purpose of a World ID is to be bound to an individual, meaning that a World ID can only be used by the individual to whom it was issued.

Worldcoin token

Worldcoin's token is called "WLD". Worldcoin released token economics on July 24, with 75% allocated to the community, 9.8% team, 13.5% TFH investors, and 1.7% TFH reserves. The current circulating supply is 110 million, and there are 100 million loans to market makers. A total of more than 43 million WLD tokens were distributed before the launch. Inflation is 1.5% per year and is expected to start in 15 years. Among the 43 million tokens, the distribution proportions in each region are as follows: 32.1% in Asia, 31.6% in Africa, 18.8% in Latin America, 17.1% in Europe, and 0.1% in the remaining regions.

Orb device

The Orb is a custom biometric imaging device developed by Tools For Humanity. It uses iris biometric technology to verify a person's humanity and uniqueness in a secure and privacy-preserving way. Orb can be directly understood as an iris scanning instrument. It uses a small device called a sphere to scan your iris to scan and confirm your identity.

Figure 2 Orb device

3. Project status and disputes

Worldcoin value analysis

Worldcoin's token is called "WLD". As of July 28, Binance data shows that the price of WLD is floating around $2.2. The initial circulation volume is 110 million, and the total volume is 10 billion. In terms of circulation market value, WLD's market value has reached US$240 million, and in terms of fully diluted valuation (FDV), this project is worth approximately US$22 billion. In May of this year, OpenAI's valuation ranged from US$27 billion to US$29 billion after completing a new round of financing. Worldcoin's market value has been similar to that of OpenAI, a superstar project also founded by Sam Altman. There has been no major market breakthrough in the crypto market in the past few weeks, and only a small number of existing funds are gaming on the market. Under this current situation, Worldcoin’s team, investor background endorsement and grand narrative story have made it the short-term focus of the market. Exchanges are vying to list coins, and investors are gearing up. However, there are many controversies about the project, and the token's model also makes people doubt its price support. Investors should keep a calm attitude towards it.

Worldcoin potential risks

• Privacy: Iris scanned registries may reveal information. If someone else scans your iris, they can check it against the database to determine if you have a World ID. An iris scan may reveal more.

• Centralization aspect: Orb is a hardware device and we cannot verify that it is constructed correctly and does not have backdoors. Therefore, even if the software layer were perfect and completely decentralized, the Worldcoin Foundation would still have the ability to insert a backdoor into the system, allowing it to create as many fake human identities as it wants.

• Security: Users' mobile phones are at risk of being hacked, and users may be forced to scan their own irises, through which hackers can illegally obtain world IDs.

• KYC aspect: Most people in the world don’t even know about the human identification protocol, if you tell them to download the APP and scan their eyes they can make $5-10, so there will be people selling their biometric information. Before Wordcoin was officially launched, there were "KYC merchants" who were looking for black people to do Worldcoin KYC in a certain country in East Africa, and then sold their accounts to domestic users. In the early days, when Worldcoin was the most popular in China, a place that could do iris verification could be promoted in one day. Earn 20,000 yuan.

Worldcoin’s potential “free prostitution” opportunity

Worldcoin officially stated that it will not conduct an ICO (public sale), and tokens can only be received through the secondary market and airdrops. So our current opportunity is in airdrops. There are three ways to receive airdrops:

First, register for worldID and you can receive 25 WLDs for free, and then you can receive 1 WLD for free every week (as of July 28, 25 WLDs are worth approximately US$55).

Second, become a promotion operator of orb and obtain wld tokens through promotion.

Third, contribute code, donations, etc. to the community to obtain wld tokens.

4. Worldcoin Hong Kong Station Orbs Certification Strategy

For ordinary people, the best way is to register for worldID, receive free WLD regularly, and then choose to sell it in the secondary market for cash. Since currently only Hong Kong in mainland China has certification points, I will introduce to you the detailed certification strategy for going to the Worldcoin Hong Kong site.

Preparation for on-site certification

• Step 1: Download the APP from the official website, official website link: https://worldcoin.org/

• Step 2: Register a personal world account and fill in relevant personal information, and prepare to apply for on-site iris authentication.

• Step 3: Make an appointment on the app. Currently, there are three iris authentication orb points in Hong Kong, namely in Yau Ma Tei, Cyberport, and Kwun Tong. (If foreign friends come to Hong Kong for verification, we recommend the convenient certification point at No. 66 Shanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei. Hong Kong local friends choose the nearest one. Also remember to download Google Maps in advance, because Baidu and Amap are not very useful in Hong Kong)

Figure 3 Map locations of three sites in Hong Kong

Hong Kong on-site verification

• Step 1: Go to the certification point at No. 66 Shanghai St Yau Ma Tei, take the MTR to Jordan MTR (C2) or Austin MTR (A) Austin MTR (A) Google map and search for 66 Shanghai St Yau Ma Tei Kowloon ) walk there.

Figure 4 Certification point at No. 66 Shanghai Street

• Step 2: After arriving at the location, show the QR code in the World App according to the staff's instructions, and then complete the iris authentication. The whole process takes about 3 minutes. The staff are very professional, so the whole experience is smooth. You can communicate with the staff in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English.

• Step 3: After the iris scan is completed, the APP page will change from gray to black. Confirm in the app that the WLD has been unlocked and credited. (If the authentication is successful but not unlocked, just wait patiently for a while. The staff said it is due to server network reasons and you need to wait a little longer.) Users who successfully complete the orb authentication can also receive an additional WLD every week.

Figure 5 worldcoin authentication successful

Tips

• If the app cannot be refreshed, you can use the network in Japan or Singapore or directly connect to the authentication point Wifi offline.

• You cannot wear contact lenses or contact lenses during Orb certification, and you need to be prepared to replace them in advance.

• Some Android phones may not be able to download the World APP. If possible, try to use an Apple phone or iPad.

• The business hours of the certification point are from 9:30 am to 10:00 pm. The specific time is subject to the appointment page.

Disclaimer

All the above market analysis and content are for reference only and do not represent investment advice and decision-making basis for anyone. Please do not make any investment decisions based on this report. The report author and DeBox Research Institute are not responsible for the user's investment results. The subject matter involved is not recommended. Buying and selling based on it is at your own risk.

Certain statements involved in this article may be the author's assumptions about future expectations and other forward-looking views, and known and unknown risks and uncertainties may cause actual results, performance or events to differ from the views and opinions expressed in the statements. Assuming there are substantial differences, the author does not in any way promise to users that they will not suffer losses or obtain minimum profits.

In the process of writing this report, the author quoted some existing articles and marked the reference links. If there is any infringement, please contact the author in time for modification and deletion.

Author link:

https://twitter.com/Web3_Yi