Eyeball Scanning Crypto Startup Worldcoin Raises $100 Million

Funds Incoming

Worldcoin announced a $100 million fundraising round, building off the $25 million it announced in October 2021. The Berlin-based crypto startup will reportedly take on investors by selling its Worldcoin tokens. As of this latest announcement, the company’s digital tokens are valued at $3 billion.

One of Worldcoin’s investors is Digital Currency Group, which is the parent company of trading platform CoinDesk. The founder of FTX and the co-founder of LinkedIn have also participated in past fundraising rounds.

How Worldcoin Works

In order to attract people to the cryptocurrency, Worldcoin is offering to give tokens away. In order to get tokens, volunteers must agree to have their eyeball scanned by what the company calls “The Orb.” It’s a five-pound chrome ball that effectively scans human eyes in order to create a large database. The company’s goal is to scan one billion different eyeballs.

It’s an ambitious goal, but Worldcoin wants all that data so it can effectively teach its system how to identify a unique human eyeball. Long-term, it plans to put a crypto wallet and some Worldcoin onto every person’s smartphone.

Future Challenges

Eventually, all of Worldcoin’s intellectual property and the company itself will be converted into a foundation. In order to get there, billions of users must be onboarded, and the company’s hardware needs to effectively scan the same number of eyeballs. Worldcoin wrote a blog at its launch that noted nothing like this has been tried before, and the “outcome is uncertain.”

The money raised through private investors will be used in an attempt to answer some of these challenges. Ultimately, the success of Worldcoin may depend on how well people understand the technology, and if they trust it. Scanned eyeballs are converted into barcodes, which the company claims can’t be reverse-engineered. Giving away crypto is definitely a way to catch people’s eye, whether or not they’re willing to stare down “The Orb.”

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