The World (formerly Worldcoin) project has surpassed the milestone of 10 million identity-verified users through the Orb device and recorded over 20 million World App downloads.
World reaches 10 million Orb-verified users globally
On January 10, the World (former Worldcoin) project announced an important milestone with over 10 million users verifying their World ID through the Orb iris scanning device.
10 million verified humans on World Network.
— World (@worldcoin) January 10, 2025
Thank you 🫶 pic.twitter.com/wQPWxsnERm
According to project data, World not only recorded over 10 million Orb-verified users but also surpassed 20 million World App downloads and expanded operations to more than 160 countries. Those who scan their iris to confirm their "identity" and create a World ID will receive the WLD token from World.
World aims to build a "proof of personhood" system to distinguish real humans from AI Agents. This is an increasingly important factor in the context of rapidly developing AI, which brings the risk of increased intellectual property infringement and threatens the role of humans in digital ecosystems.
In a blog post on January 09, 2025, World emphasized:
"As AI Agents become increasingly intelligent, identity verification will become the foundation for a sustainable AI-driven future, ensuring that humans remain central in a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence."
Despite achieving impressive milestones, World has faced numerous objections and bans from regulatory authorities. They are concerned that the project's digital identity verification could infringe on privacy and enable organizations to abuse it for illicit gain.
- Kenya was the first country to ban World in August 2023, citing potential national security and privacy risks.
- In Spain, World was ordered to stop data collection for three months starting in March 2024, after which it suspended operations throughout 2024.
- Portugal also imposed a 90-day ban in the same month, aiming to protect the privacy of citizens from the illegal collection of biometric data.
- Hong Kong has ordered World to cease operations in May 2024. Most recently, in September 2024, South Korea fined World 1.1 billion won (equivalent to $829,000) for violating personal data protection laws.
However, World is continuously working to strengthen its credibility before regulatory authorities by adjusting and improving its data collection processes to meet strict privacy requirements. The project claims that the allegations from the authorities mainly relate to the old iris storage methods, which have been completely replaced since 2024.
In a statement, World emphasized:
"The iris codes used to verify World ID identities are no longer stored. Additionally, all previously collected iris codes have been voluntarily deleted, ensuring that no personal data is retained in the operation of World ID."
One of World's most notable advancements in 2024 was the name change to World and the launch of the World Chain Layer-2 blockchain with the participation of major partners such as Alchemy and Dune.
World Chain is introduced as a "humans-only" blockchain, where only verified World ID users have the right to participate. This solution not only provides benefits to individuals with World ID during transactions but also enhances security and effectively prevents attacks and MEV exploitation.
The WLD Token is currently trading at around $2.00, marking a decline of more than 7.4% in the past 24 hours and reaching its lowest level since November 09, 2024.
WLD price movement in the past 24 hours. Screenshot taken on CoinGecko at 01:55 PM on January 13, 2025
Compiled by Coin68
