OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Verge of Securing $100 Million for Worldcoin Crypto Project

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Fredrik Vold

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October 23, 2023 06:49 EDT

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Tech entrepreneur Sam Altman’s crypto project Worldcoin is reportedly on the verge of securing $100 million worth of investments from “existing and new investors.”

Citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, a Financial Times report from Monday said Worldcoin is in “advanced talks” with a group of investors who combined is expected to contribute some $100 million for the project’s further development.

Existing investors in Worldcoin include Andreessen Horowitz, better known as a16z, Barry Silbert’s crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG), and Coinbase Ventures, to name just a few.

This week’s Financial Times report follows an earlier report from March, when The Information first said Worldcoin was set to raise $100 million, bringing the total valuation of its WDC token to $3 billion.

Worldcoin is an ambitious crypto project that works on collecting scanned images of people’s eyes in return for cryptocurrency payments.

Multiple reports have in the past suggested that Sam Altman, who is also the CEO of the massively successful artificial intelligence firm OpenAI, got involved in Worldcoin due to his interest in universal basic income (UBI), which he believes Worldcoin can enable.

The project has been highly active in many developing countries in particular, but Altman has received criticism from the broader crypto community for collecting potentially sensitive information from people who may not fully understand what they are participating in.

Among those who have been critical is NSA leaker (or whistleblower) Edward Snowden, who when Worldcoin first launched opined that biometric data shouldn’t be used for any purpose, saying “the human body is not a ticket-punch.”

Don't use biometrics for anti-fraud.

In fact, don't use biometrics for anything.

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 23, 2021

In March last year, it was reported that Worldcoin had pulled out of several countries due to data privacy concerns and technical challenges.

Commenting on the developments at the time, Alex Blania, another of Worldcoin’s co-founders, reminded people that the firm is still “a Series A company, not an Uber.”

“Things are not perfect,” Blania said at the time.