Forget passwords, hello eyeballs. Worldcoin is taking its unique ID verification process to the streets of Vienna.
Worldcoin is expanding its European footprint. The company introduced its iris-scanning technology to Austria this week, allowing citizens to create a World ID. This brings the total number of potential users to over 6.3 million.
The Worldcoin project assigns World IDs to individuals who verify their humanity through an iris scan, rewarding them with WLD tokens. While Austria has joined neighboring Germany in rolling out Worldcoin’s orb, the project has faced regulatory challenges across Europe.
Spain extended its ban on Worldcoin last month until the end of the year or until a GDPR audit is completed. Portugal also ordered the project to temporarily halt biometric data collection in March. Several other government agencies have scrutinized Worldcoin due to concerns about personal data protection.
A 2024 survey in Spain revealed that 82% of the 21,000 World ID holders who responded agreed that technologies such as Worldcoin/World ID are important for distinguishing between humans and bots online, with 13% unsure. The Worldcoin Foundation further stated in a blog post:
“Similarly, in Portugal, more than 3 in 4 (77%) of the 19,000 World ID holders who responded agree that Worldcoin can have a positive impact on their digital interactions (13% were unsure).”
Worldcoin has been primarily developed and promoted by Tools for Humanity, co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Recently, Tools for Humanity has taken measures to assure data privacy advocates that Worldcoin takes the protection of users’ biometric data seriously.
In March, Worldcoin introduced “Personal Custody,” an initiative that prevents new signups from requesting to have their biometric data stored and encrypted. The project later announced that individuals who had previously signed up could request Worldcoin to delete the numeric “iris code” created from their iris scans. Additionally, Worldcoin implemented a measure to prevent individuals under 18 from signing up.
Simultaneously, Worldcoin is ramping up its infrastructure. The project recently opened up its new Layer 2 blockchain, World Chain, for developers to test-drive.
This comes as Worldcoin’s user base has exploded, accounting for over half of all transactions on its current home, OP Mainnet.
