Worldcoin, a soon-to-be-launched token project co-created by OpenAI's Sam Altman, is already seeing a black market for illegitimate purchases of its credentials. It is reported that people in China where Worldcoin registration is not yet available, are purchasing iris scans taken from Cambodia and Africa for as little as $30. Worldcoin aims to offer tokens to individuals who prove they are unique by getting their iris scanned through the project's orbs. Over 1.7 million people have already signed up for the process.
A spokesperson for Worldcoin acknowledged the issue and outlining plans to contain it and mentioning that the problem has only affected a few hundred instances. To combat fraud, Worldcoin has made adjustments to the initial in-person sign-up process and implemented dynamic versus static QR codes.
Previously, Worldcoin addressed account theft concerns in a blog post, explaining that users could reclaim their verified World IDs by being scanned a second time. The project admitted that their precautions do not entirely prevent collusion or other attempts to bypass the one-person-one-proof principle.
Worldcoin plans to launch its token within the first half of this year and has already released its self-custodial mobile app. The organization is valued at $3 billion, having raised $100 million from Khosla Ventures and a16z in March 2022.