A new cryptocurrency project founded by OpenAI chief exec Sam Altman has officially launched.

The new currency Worldcoin is described by its website as an Ethereum-based “new, collectively owned global currency that will be distributed fairly to as many people as possible.”

A core part of the project is its World ID account system which verifies the real human identity of its customers via an in-person iris scan using the Worldcoin ‘chrome orb’ – a bowling ball-sized scanner which scans participants’ irises and collects other biometric data points to both authenticate users and to ensure that there is no account duplication.

The company explained that the cryptocurrency aspect of World IDs stores user information on the blockchain in a way which both preserves privacy and can’t be controlled or shut down by a single entity.

Worldcoin, created by San Francisco and Berlin-based Tools for Humanity, said that World IDs will be necessary in the age of generative AI tools like ChatGPT as a means of telling the difference between real people and AI bots.

A beta for Worldcoin launched earlier this year which signed up 2 million users. Worldcoin said that Monday’s launch will see it scale up its ‘orbing’ operations to 35 cities in 20 countries, with users who sign up in certain countries receiving the WLD token as an incentive.

Worldcoin was listed by the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance at 9am GMT on Monday.

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