Worldcoin to have its own Layer 2 blockchain called World Chain

Quick Take

  • Worldcoin will soon have its own Layer 2 blockchain called World Chain.
  • The Layer 2, said to be out this summer, will be owned and governed by the Worldcoin project.

Sam Altman's proof-of-humanity project Worldcoin WLD -5.47% , will soon begin utilizing its own Layer 2 blockchain meant to improve efficiencies as it onboards new users.

The new Layer 2, called World Chain, will be secured by Ethereum, according to a statement. Additionally, users who have been verified as human will "enjoy priority blockspace over bots and some free gas," the statement also said.

Officially, Worldcoin Foundation is launching the new Layer 2, although Worldcoin has been primarily developed and promoted by Tools for Humanity.

Altman, CEO of the high-profile artificial intelligence company OpenAI, is co-founder of Tools for Humanity. The Worldcoin project is dedicated to assigning people World IDs after they prove they are human with an iris scan. People who sign up are given cryptocurrency in the form of WLD tokens.

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The vision behind the Worldcoin project revolves around the idea that the future health of the internet will require a system that parses human from non-human actors.

World Chain is meant to "increase capacity so new people can continue to join at scale, and existing users can enjoy faster, cheaper, and more reliable transactions," according to a statement. The new Layer 2 should be out this summer, it also said.

Worldcoin has signed up more than 5 million people, according to its website.


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RT Watson is a senior reporter at The Block who covers a wide array of topics including U.S.-based companies, blockchain gaming and NFTs. Formerly covered entertainment at The Wall Street Journal, where he wrote about Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. and the creator economy while focusing primarily on technological disruption across media. Previous to that he covered corporate, economic and political news in Brazil while at Bloomberg. RT has interviewed a diverse cast of characters including CEOs, media moguls, top influencers, politicians, blue-collar workers, drug traffickers and convicted criminals. Holds a master's degree in Digital Sociology.

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