By OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's co-founded and supported World Network aims to establish a global "real human network" and is now taking a significant step in its massive plan. The project officially announced its entry into the US market on April 30, 2025, with plans to launch services in six major US cities.
Simultaneously, World Network revealed two heavyweight collaborations: first, partnering with payment giant Visa to launch a crypto payment card; the second is a pilot identity verification program with popular dating app Tinder in Japan, showcasing World's global expansion ambitions.
Strategies and Challenges of Entering the US Market
For World Network, entering the US market is undoubtedly a massive leap in its development. Especially in today's digital world, where AI's influence is increasingly expanding, creating a framework to accurately distinguish between humans and non-humans has become crucial, which is precisely the core vision of this project.
This US expansion will cover six key cities: Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, and San Francisco. Users can reportedly receive WLD tokens after completing personal identity verification and successfully establishing their World ID.
Collaborating with Payment Giant Visa to Promote Crypto Payment Adoption
To expand the application scenarios of $WLD and other digital assets, World plans to collaborate with Visa to launch a payment card. According to the official statement, this new payment card called World Card is expected to officially launch in the US later this year.
At that time, the card will directly link to users' personal World App wallet, allowing users to conveniently spend their digital assets at any location accepting Visa payments, though the regions of acceptance remain to be clarified.
Entering Social Domain with Tinder Identity Verification Pilot
Beyond the financial payment domain, World Network's collaboration with Match Group (parent company of popular dating apps like Tinder and Hinge) has also attracted attention. They will first start an identity verification experimental program for Tinder users in Japan.
World Network emphasizes the importance of "real connections," aiming to provide dating app users with a reliable method to verify whether their interactions are with "real humans seeking genuine connections." This approach aims to effectively combat fake accounts and online fraud while promoting more authentic social interactions. If successful, it might potentially expand to other platforms under the Match Group.
Privacy Still Questioned, WLD Hits New Low in April
World Network's official entry into the US market, along with its heavyweight collaborations with industry giants like Visa and Tinder, clearly demonstrates its strong intention to transform the "real human network" vision from a conceptual stage to everyday life.
However, the project's user identity verification through iris scanning, despite official claims that the technology does not store user biometric information to protect privacy, continues to face questioning and controversy from some privacy experts.
Regarding token price, WLD was always subject to continuous distribution, and selling pressure has been an issue before establishing its ecosystem and applications. Although it saw some rise in early 2024 riding the ChatGPT wave and Sam Altman's popularity, market sentiment declined afterward. In April, WLD price even dropped below $1, hitting a historical low, and was reported at $1.06 before this article's submission.
Whether World Network can effectively overcome current challenges, particularly in ensuring user biometric information security while truly becoming the next-generation infrastructure connecting humans and the digital world, remains to be patiently observed and continuously evaluated.
