A Clash of Crypto Titans: Worldcoin’s Attempt to Unseat Bitcoin

• Worldcoin, an identity protocol officially launched by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, could distribute crypto more broadly than Bitcoin, according to CoinFund, the venture capital firm behind the project.
• CoinFund and other investors were drawn to Worldcoin due to its large global vision and Web 3-focused technology.

Worldcoin (WLD), a newly-minted identity protocol, has ignited fresh debates in the cryptocurrency sphere. Initiated by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Worldcoin’s promise to deliver a wider crypto distribution than Bitcoin is turning heads and drawing significant attention.

Jake Brukhman, the brain behind CoinFund, a venture capital firm that has thrown its weight behind Worldcoin, firmly believes in Worldcoin’s potential. “One of the core propositions of Worldcoin is to build a system that can create a distribution of a cryptocurrency that’s even wider around the world than Bitcoin is today,” Brukhman confidently declared.

As an identity protocol, Worldcoin’s unique selling point revolves around its ability to ascertain the uniqueness and humanness of its users. By harnessing the power of iris scans, artificial intelligence, and zero-knowledge proofs, Worldcoin is working to build an inclusive, efficient, and trustworthy crypto environment.

Worldcoin’s Rapid Rise

Since its official launch, Worldcoin’s journey to onboard “billions of users” has begun. Austin Barack, a partner at CoinFund, made this bold statement in a recent blog post. In the short period leading up to its unveiling, Worldcoin registered a little over two million verified users worldwide. As the current count stands, a staggering 941,000 World App wallets have been created, as per a Dune analytics dashboard on the project.

Despite concerns around privacy and the intricacies of its tokenomics, the Worldcoin network’s launch has attracted a flurry of interest. Users appear to be signing up at an astonishing rate – an average of one new user every eight seconds, as reported by Altman on Twitter.

Behind the Scenes

In terms of its blockchain framework, the protocol has transitioned from Polygon to Optimism, an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution. In response to this shift, users have been guided to update their applications to establish Optimism wallets and transfer their beta tokens to the new blockchain.

The conviction in Worldcoin’s potential isn’t limited to CoinFund. The project secured investment during its Series A round in February 2021 from heavyweights such as a16z and Multicoin Capital, according to Crunchbase. The broad vision and Web 3-centered technology of Worldcoin were key attractions for these investors.

While there are regulatory concerns preventing the token from being available in the U.S. at the moment, Brukhman isn’t overly worried. The CoinFund CEO remains confident that WLD will eventually make its mark stateside.