Altman’s Biometric Bet Goes Big
Sam Altman’s Worldcoin project, that eye-scanning “proof of human” thing, has always been a lightning rod for debate. Now, it’s ditching its minimalist origins and swinging for the fences, aiming to become a full-blown crypto “super app.”
As of its December 11, 2025 update, World App isn’t just a controversial biometric ID wallet anymore. It’s a beast, packing end-to-end encrypted chat, in-chat crypto payments, and virtual accounts. If you’re thinking a Web3 version of Venmo or Revolut, you’re not far off – just remember the iris scan in the background.
What’s New in the “Super App”?
- Crypto Payments in Chat: Forget switching apps. Send crypto directly within your conversations.
- End-to-End Encrypted Chat: Dubbed “World Chat,” the company claims Signal-level security. Your messages, they say, are for your eyes only.
- Virtual Accounts: A new layer of utility, making crypto transactions feel more like traditional money transfers.
Tools for Humanity, the crew behind World, is pushing this as the ultimate hub for “verified humans” – combining social interaction, payments, and identity. Their PR gushes about “a complete reimagination” of human connection in the global economy. Altman himself chimed in, suggesting a “human-centric system” is more vital than ever in our AI-flooded world.
The Proof-of-Human Ponderance
But here’s where it gets interesting – and, depending on your stance, a little unsettling. World Chat messages display blue bubbles for those who’ve verified their humanness via the infamous Orb iris scan, and gray for the unverified. Profile pictures? Checked against your Orb photos. It’s a stark visual reminder of who’s in the verified club and who isn’t.
Remember Worldcoin’s US debut back in May 2025? It launched on Coinbase, and participants who dared to scan their eyes at an Orb location snagged 16 WLD tokens. The project also doled out “pioneer grants” – a cool 150 WLD, roughly $155 at the time – just for downloading and registering. It seems there’s a price for your eyeballs, and it’s denominated in WLD.
The core vision, “proof of human,” gains traction in an era drowning in AI bots and deepfakes. Is it a necessary evil for the future of online interaction, or just another step towards a biometric dystopia? World App’s latest evolution certainly forces that question back to the forefront.
