The project has been three years in the making and uses biometric verification such as facial recognition and iris authentication to assign each user a unique "World ID" that distinguishes them as humans from artificial intelligence (AI). An application called WorldApp stores a user’s World ID and allows them to exchange Worldcoin tokens (WLD).

Worldcoin said it will hold about 20% of all its tokens, which are not launching in the U.S. for now and will release 10 million tokens in the first 15 years for public use. The platform is being built on open-source and decentralized concepts. Worldcoin will be issued to grow the Worldcoin network, with security inherited from Ethereum.

Berlin-based Worldcoin has raised $125 million since its inception in 2019, with Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, and Reid Hoffman among its backers.

Worldcoin claims crowdfunding for major events like India's fight against COVID-19 and donating money to Ukraine could be simplified through its digital token, which could make cross-border payments simpler.

More than 2 million people have a unique World ID so far. In the last 30 days, more than 60,000 digital wallet transactions were recorded on the network, while more than 48,000 accounts were created in the last seven days on the Worldcoin network, according to Worldcoin.