Recently launched by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, the identity protocol Worldcoin has the potential to achieve a broader global distribution of cryptocurrency than even Bitcoin, according to Jake Brukhman, founder and CEO of the venture capital firm CoinFund. In an interview, Brukhman stated that a core aim of Worldcoin is building a system capable of onboarding more worldwide users to crypto than Bitcoin has to date.
Additionally, Austin Barack, a partner at CoinFund, wrote in a blog post that Worldcoin could bring billions of new users into the crypto ecosystem. Prior to its official launch, Worldcoin had over two million verified users globally. As of now, data shows that over 940,000 World App wallets have been created. By enabling such extensive user adoption, CoinFund believes Worldcoin may surpass Bitcoin in terms of its worldwide reach and distribution.
Worldcoin is an identity protocol that verifies users are singular human beings through iris scans, AI, and zero-knowledge proofs. After launching this past Monday, which raised concerns around privacy and token distribution, Worldcoin is transitioning its underlying architecture from Polygon to the Layer 2 Ethereum scaling solution Optimism.
Despite privacy reservations, signups continue at a rapid pace, with Sam Altman tweeting that a new user registers every eight seconds worldwide. With the migration to Optimism now underway, current Worldcoin participants are being instructed to update their apps so they can generate Optimism wallets and transfer their beta tokens to the new blockchain environment. Even as questions linger regarding its tokenomics and data collection, Worldcoin continues attracting users while shifting its technical infrastructure to Optimism in pursuit of enhanced scalability.
According to Crunchbase, the venture capital firm CoinFund invested in Worldcoin during its Series A fundraising round in February 2021, alongside other major investors like a16z and Multicoin Capital. As explained by CoinFund CEO Jake Brukhman, “What attracted CoinFund to Worldcoin is its large global vision and Web 3-focused technology.”
Brukhman also noted that he is not concerned about Worldcoin’s WLD token currently being unavailable in the U.S. due to regulatory issues. He believes that WLD will eventually launch in the United States once the proper regulatory approvals are in place. Despite the token’s limited geographic availability, CoinFund remains confident in Worldcoin’s long-term potential to achieve worldwide adoption and impact based on its innovative technology and alignment with Web 3 principles.
