Orb Outrage: Worldcoin Cofounder Defends Project Amid Backlash

Worldcoin is getting hit from all sides. Following a popular launch in late July, critics from the crypto community and public sector alike are coming out in droves with concerns about privacy, data protection, and tokenomics. Worldcoin co-founder Alex Blania joins the show to address the recent criticism and reiterate the project’s lofty goals. “It sounds crazy,” he said, “so you really need to understand the technology to understand why it’s not concerning.”

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights:

• why Worldcoin believes in the idea of a universal basic income (UBI)
• how World ID actually works, from the initial “orb” scan to actually using the app
• Alex’s comments on the rise of a black market for World IDs
• whether Worldcoin is storing people’s biometric data
• how people don’t really understand the nuances of getting their irises scanned and why it’s fine that the “average person will not understand how crypto works,” according to Alex
• whether Worldcoin took into consideration the various regulations around the world
• what the purpose of the WLD token is
• why the project decided to launch the token with a low float
• how Alex got convinced to join Worldcoin and become one of its leaders
• why Alex believes that Worldcoin will become a “very powerful technology” that will be the main project for onboarding people to crypto

Thank you to our sponsors!

• Crypto.com
• Arbitrum Foundation
• TOKEN2049

Guest:

• Alex Blania, cofounder of Worldcoin
  • Previous appearances on Unchained: Is Sam Altman’s Worldcoin the End of People’s Privacy?

Links

• Previous coverage of Unchained on Worldcoin: Why CoinFund Believes Worldcoin Could Become More Popular Than Bitcoin
• Unchained:
  • Worldcoin Can Be More ‘Widely Distributed’ Than Bitcoin, CoinFund Executives Say
  • Worldcoin Launches Token on Mainnet, Plans to Deploy 1,500 Eyeball Scanning Orbs
  • Is Sam Altman’s Worldcoin the End of People’s Privacy?

• CoinDesk:
  • Worldcoin Could Enable Wider Distribution of Crypto Than Even Bitcoin, Says CoinFund
  • Worldcoin Releases Tokenomics, Report Geofenced for Some Countries
• The Block: German authorities probe Worldcoin project over privacy: Reuters
• Reuters: Kenyan government suspends activities of Worldcoin in country
• Rest of World: Why are people lining up for Worldcoin eyeball scans? “Easy $50,”
• What do I think about biometric proof of personhood? By Vitalik Buterin

• MIT Technology Review: Deception, exploited workers, and cash handouts: How Worldcoin recruited its first half a million test users
• Ouriel Ohayon’s video