Worldcoin: Solving Online Identity Issues with Proof of Personhood

What is Worldcoin ?

Worldcoin is a bold project aiming to onboard over a billion people into the world of cryptocurrency. It’s not just about giving people access to crypto—it’s also about solving a big problem online: how to prove someone is a real human and not a bot without compromising their privacy. This is especially important with AI making bots smarter and harder to detect.

The Problem

The internet is full of bots and fake accounts, especially with the rise of AI. This causes several issues:

• Airdrops in crypto: Bots create fake accounts and take rewards meant for real people.
• CAPTCHAs: Those puzzles to prove you're human are annoying and waste time.
• Trust issues: Fake accounts make online spaces less reliable.
• Economic challenges: Businesses relying on real human users may lose money if bots take over.

Worldcoin offers a way to prove you’re a real, unique human (called Proof of Personhood) without giving away your private details.

This structure first highlights the current problems, then transitions smoothly to the solution in a simple, clear way. What do you think?

Breaking Down Worldcoin’s Technology

Worldcoin is built around three key components:

1. World ID

• At the heart of Worldcoin is World ID, which proves that you are a real person.
• It works using the Orb, a device that scans your iris and creates a unique code called IrisCode.
• According to the company, the iris scan is deleted after the code is created, and the code isn’t tied to any personal information.
• The goal? To ensure that each person can only have one World ID for life.

2. World App

• The World App acts as a wallet for holding Worldcoin tokens and other digital assets.
• It also stores your World ID and can be used like a passport to access apps, services, or even make payments.
• The app supports both cryptocurrencies and regular money (fiat).

3. Worldcoin (WLD)

• WLD is the cryptocurrency powering the Worldcoin system.
• A total of 10 billion WLD tokens will be released over 15 years.
• At launch, 43 million WLD were given to verified users, and 100 million were sent to market makers to help stabilize the token’s price.
• As of now, the price of one WLD is about $2.15.

How Does Worldcoin Work?

Worldcoin uses a device called an Orb to scan a person’s iris (the colored part of your eye).

• The Orb creates a unique iris code from the scan.
• This code is encrypted, and the original iris image is deleted immediately.

From this process, users get a World ID, a digital identity that proves they’re a real, unique person. This ID is private—no one can see or track what you do online using it.

Why Is This Important?

• It eliminates the need for complicated CAPTCHAs and helps block bots.
• Crypto projects can distribute tokens or rewards fairly, knowing each person is unique.
• It paves the way for new ideas, like fair online voting or distributing resources without fraud.

How Is Privacy Protected?

Even though Worldcoin uses biometric data (your iris), it doesn’t store the original image. Your unique iris code is encrypted and cannot be traced back to you. This ensures your activities remain anonymous.

The Bigger Vision

Worldcoin aims to:

1. Become the largest gateway to crypto for people worldwide.
2. Make crypto wallets (like their World App) more secure and widely used.
3. Establish Proof of Personhood as a foundation for a safer and more trusted internet.

Challenges and Why People Are Skeptical

• Initial Reactions: Many think scanning an eye sounds dystopian, like sci-fi stories about “eyeball harvesting.” Even Edward Snowden criticized it.
• Trust Issues: Combining biometrics with crypto feels risky to many people.

But after deep research, experts found Worldcoin’s approach to be privacy-preserving and capable of scaling globally.

The Team Behind Worldcoin

Sam Altman

• Sam Altman is one of the most influential figures in the tech world. As the CEO of OpenAI, he has been at the forefront of developing cutting-edge artificial intelligence, including ChatGPT, which has revolutionized how people interact with AI.
• Past Achievements:
• President of Y Combinator: Under his leadership, Y Combinator backed iconic companies like Airbnb, Stripe, and Dropbox. He helped shape the future of startups by providing mentorship and funding.
• OpenAI’s Impact: His work with OpenAI is transforming industries from healthcare to education, making AI tools accessible to everyone.

Alex Blania

• Alex Blania is a technical mastermind who plays a critical role in bringing Worldcoin’s vision to life.
• Technical Visionary: Blania is the driving force behind the engineering and design of Worldcoin's Orb, the innovative hardware device used for verifying human identity.

Future Roadmap

Worldcoin’s team isn’t just focused on the present—they have a bold vision for the future:

1. Expanding User Base: The project aims to onboard billions of users globally, making Proof of Personhood accessible to everyone.
2. Global Financial Inclusion: Worldcoin plans to create a digital financial ecosystem that provides equal opportunities for users, regardless of location or socioeconomic status.
3. Decentralized Identity Solutions: They are working on advancing secure and privacy-focused identity systems that can integrate with Web3 applications, enhancing trust in the internet.
4. Collaborations and Innovations:Partnering with governments and organizations to implement digital identity verification for public services.

Tokenomics

Total Supply:

10,000,000,000 WLD (10 billion tokens)

The total supply refers to the maximum number of tokens that can ever exist for the WLD token. This includes both the tokens currently in circulation and those that are locked, reserved, or yet to be distributed.

Circulating Supply:

825,060,855 WLD (825 million)

This represents the number of tokens currently available in the market and held by the public. The circulating supply excludes tokens that are locked, staked, or held in reserves by the team or investors.

Market Cap:

$1,775,961,199 ($1.78 billion)

The market capitalization is calculated as: Market Cap = Circulating Supply × Current Price ($2.15) This metric indicates the overall valuation of the circulating WLD tokens in the market at the current trading price. It’s a snapshot of the token's market value.

Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV):

$21,525,214,635 ($21.5 billion) FDV considers the valuation of the token if all tokens in the total supply were in circulation. It is calculated as: FDV = Total Supply × Current Price($2.15) FDV helps investors understand the long-term potential valuation of the token.

2. Distribution

• Allocation:
• 75%: Reserved for the Worldcoin community, including free user grants via the World ID verification process.
• 13.5%: Allocated to early investors.
• 9.8%: Allocated to the founding team and key contributors.
• 1.7%: Reserved for future grants and partnerships.
• Vesting Schedule: Tokens allocated to investors and team members are subject to a vesting schedule, ensuring gradual release over time to prevent market manipulation or flooding.
• Transparency: The whitepaper outlines these details clearly, contributing to trust in the ecosystem.

3. Utility

• Primary Use Cases:
• World ID Verification: WLD is linked to the World ID, a digital identity that distinguishes humans from bots.
• Payment System: Enables payments and transactions within the Worldcoin ecosystem.
• Governance: Token holders can vote on key decisions, influencing the protocol's future development.
• Intrinsic Value: The token's utility lies in enabling a unique identity verification system, creating a practical use case that extends beyond speculative trading.

4. Security

• Consensus Mechanism: Worldcoin operates on the Ethereum blockchain, benefiting from Ethereum's security and transition to Proof of Stake (PoS).
• Data Privacy: Uses zero-knowledge proofs to protect user data.
• The biometric data collected for World ID is anonymized and stored securely, reducing privacy risks.

Total Supply: 10 billion

Distribution : 75% community, 13.5% investors as per WhitePaper

Utility : World ID, payments, governance

Security : Proof of Stake (via Ethereum)

Top Holders Distribution

Analysis of the Top 10 Worldcoin Holders

From the pie chart above, we can see how Worldcoin tokens are distributed among the top 10 holders. Let’s break this down:

1. Dominance of Top Holders :

• The largest wallet holds 24.69% of the total supply, which indicates a significant concentration of tokens in a single entity or wallet.
• The second-largest wallet holds 22.09%, and the third wallet has 20.6%. Together, the top 3 wallets control a whopping 67.38% of the total supply.

1. Other Key Holders

• Wallets ranked 4 to 6 collectively hold approximately 14.36% of the supply. This indicates that the top 6 wallets alone dominate over 80% of the total supply.
• Remaining wallets in the top 10 hold smaller percentages, ranging from 5.48% to less than 2.11% each.

• Concentration of Wealth: Over 80% of tokens are held by just six wallets, highlighting a highly centralized distribution.
• Potential Risks: Large holders could significantly influence price and liquidity if they choose to sell or transfer their holdings.
• Transparency: It's important to monitor these wallets over time to understand their role—whether they’re operational, locked, or actively trading.

Average Time Token is Held:

What is it?

The Average Time Token is Held measures how long, on average, wallets hold a particular token before selling or transferring it. It reflects the behavior of token holders, whether they are long-term investors or short-term traders.

Long-Term Confidence

• Many holders are keeping their tokens for over a year, which is a good sign of confidence in the project.

Healthy Community

• The 1.1-year average shows a mix of adoption and investment, indicating that Worldcoin has a relatively stable base of holders.

Total Unique Addresses:

Top Inflows of Worldcoin in the Last 30 Days (as of [Dec - 30-2024])

Top Outflows of Worldcoin in the Last 30 Days (as of [Dec - 30-2024])

Key Insights:

1. Uniswap V3 Pool Dominates Activity:

• Both the highest inflow (260M tokens, $793.87M) and outflow (260M tokens, $795.53M) occurred at the Uniswap V3 Pool.

The most tokens moved in and out of Uniswap V3 Pool, showing that people are actively trading Worldcoin on this platform. It means there’s a lot of interest in buying and selling Worldcoin.

• BitGo WalletSimple recorded 118.47M tokens (~$389M) in both inflow and outflow, suggesting tokens were moved in and out for storage or operational purposes without much accumulation or retention.
• The wallet 0x51dEF... saw a large inflow of 240.35M tokens ($733.69M) and a nearly identical outflow of 239.73M tokens ($731.98M), indicating minimal net change, likely for transactional purposes
• The numbers show that Worldcoin is being actively traded, stored, and used in decentralized platforms, reflecting its growing adoption and usage in the crypto ecosystem.

Conclusion of the Research

• Holder Concentration: The top 10 holders control 51% of the circulating supply, presenting a centralization risk that requires ongoing monitoring to ensure fair distribution and stability.
• Holding Behavior: Investors hold tokens for an average of 1.1 years, reflecting confidence in the project and a long-term commitment to its growth.