Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman that has seen rapid growth, is now running low on orbs — the devices used for iris scans in exchange for tokens. Worldcoin has decided to increase Orb production to meet high demand and logistical challenges.
In an interview with Semafor, Alex Blania, the CEO of Tools for Humanity, the developer behind Worldcoin, said the project is increasing orbs production. He said there are about 300-500 orbs currently available, but that they have attracted so much interest that the company needs to hire security teams for crowd control around the,.
“It’s much easier in many ways and more complicated in others. I didn’t think we’d have to hire a strong team in every market in the early days,” Blania told Semafor. “I thought we’d have more time.”
What are orbs?
In the Wordcoin project, Orbs are specialized devices that use iris scanning technology to verify a person’s unique identity and convert those scans into bits of numerical code to prevent fraudulent activity. With an iris scan, an individual can obtain a new type of digital ID, which then allows access to the Worldcoin cryptocurrency. This iris-based verification system is a viable alternative to CAPTCHA, the photographic tests that separates humans from spam accounts on much of the internet.
The platform was aimed to “distinguish humans from AI” through what it calls “proof of personhood.” While the project’s biometric approach was initially criticized, the increase in adoption indicates a shift toward acceptance. It was launched last July and now it has a user base of more than 10 million across 160 countries.
Worldcoin was trading at $4.80 on Friday morning, up 0.4% from Thursday.