Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project co-founded by Sam Altman, has announced that it now supports World ID integrations with Minecraft, Reddit, Telegram, Shopify, and Mercado Libre. Integrations with Discord, Talent Protocol, and Okta’s Auth0 are already available.
The protocol, which was released to the public about four months ago, was recently updated to World ID 2.0, which the company claims makes it easier to distinguish between bots and “verified humans” online.
“It’s a much easier way for developers to build integrations,” Tiago Sada,tools for Humanity’s product manager and a key contributor to Worldcoin, told TechCrunch. “We’ve rebuilt the way it works.”
For example, the new integrations will allow Reddit moderators to grant special permissions to those who use their World ID “so they know you’re not spamming,” Sada explained. Shopify store owners can also use World ID to prevent fraud or run one-time promotions.
“This is not just about the first wave of applications, but a new developer platform where developers can build,” Sada said. “We’re excited to see what people come up with […] the best ideas come from developers.”
There are three new types of World IDs.
The company has also developed three levels of authentication: The “casual” or “World ID device level” requires you to download the Worldcoin app and create a World ID. You do not need to use the Worldcoin Orb to scan your irises to prove your identity; instead, you must create a profile.The “standard” or “World ID Orb” level involves creating a profile and also getting your irises scanned by one of the company’s Orbs to verify your identity. “High” or “World ID Orb+” security requires you to also use facial recognition to secure the app besides the previous two steps, Sada said.
Users are not required to provide their real name or identification when creating a World ID, Sada said. “You can use it completely anonymously; the only thing you’re doing is proving you’re unique.”
It is not, however, bulletproof. You can create one World ID for each device, so if you have a phone and an iPad, you can create two World IDs. You can do this until you choose to be scanned by an Orb, at which point you will only be able to have one ID.
“There’s use cases where it’s not sufficient,” Sada acknowledged. “It’s not perfect, but it could help prevent people from abusing systems, like voting 100 times on a poll, or having hundreds — if not thousands — of accounts,” he added.
Plans for growth
Worldcoin is also expanding its onboarding operations in Mexico and Singapore.Sada said the company is also working on bringing it to more countries in Asia. “The goal is to have Orbs available in any country to sign up […] They’re two more countries on a long list [of countries]; it’s going to take time.”
While the cryptocurrency project continues to grow, it has encountered some challenges. Kenya banned Worldcoin from scanning any more of its citizens’ eyes earlier this year, citing concerns that the company failed to inform users about the data security and privacy measures it had implemented.
Separately, some critics have claimed that the company targets developing countries and their residents because it provides most participants (outside of the United States and a few other countries) with 25 WLD tokens, worth approximately $60.5, in exchange for signing up.
However, growth has not slowed. Almost 5 million people worldwide have a World ID, and approximately 2.6 million people have had their irises scanned with its Orb hardware to verify their identities. According to its website, over 100,000 people have created new accounts in the last seven days.
“Five million people is still very far away from the world [adopting it,]” Sada said. “So [2024 is] about improving things, but also getting to all of the people around the world.”
