The "Father of ChatGPT" Launches Cryptocurrency and Wallet

On May 8, OpenAl co-founder Sam Altman's cryptocurrency project World Coin launched a new product, the World App, a crypto wallet.

According to the official announcement, as the first consumer product launched by World Coin, the app, dubbed the "minimalist wallet," aims to bring "decentralized identity and finance" to the public.

1.5 Million People Join Cryptocurrency Wallet Test

The announcement shows that more than 1.5 million people will join the beta phase of the World App, which will now be available in more than 80 countries.

The launch is described as the first phase, with plans to expand the app into a comprehensive toolkit in the future, with the ultimate goal of the project being to provide universal basic income (UBI) to verified users.

"The World App is the first wallet in the World Coin ecosystem." The announcement says, "It is designed to be user-friendly and it supports private digital identity and new financial systems. It can be used to authenticate via World ID to prove you are a real person, access your World Coin tokens and send digital currency anywhere."

World Coin also hinted at its artificial intelligence (AI) initiative, noting that it aims to "empower individuals in the age of artificial intelligence" by offering "AI-funded UBI."

Notably, the World App comes on the heels of World Coin's World ID, an identity protocol that relies on iris recognition and claims to be resistant to AI manipulation, though it has been controversial since its launch a year ago.

The new World App uses zero-knowledge (ZK) proof associated with biometric data scanning, and will be accompanied by a crypto wallet that will use World Coin's native tokens (not yet available) as well as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).