Share this article
A16z, Coinbase-Backed Startup Looks to Distribute Crypto to Everyone on Earth by Scanning Their Eyeballs: Report
Worldcoin has designed an orb-shaped unit to produce a unique identifier from an iris scan.
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 1:18 p.m. Published Jun 29, 2021, 3:06 p.m.
Worldcoin, a startup founded by former Y Combinator head Sam Altman, wants to distribute crypto to everyone on the planet by scanning their eyeballs.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
- The company has designed an orb-shaped unit that can produce a unique personal identifier from an iris scan, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
- Altman, former president of startup accelerator Y Combinator, devised the concept in 2019 around experimentation on universal basic income and how money could be distributed to people in a way that circumvents the role of government.
- "I've been interested in things like universal basic income and what's going to happen to global wealth distribution and how we can do that better, is there a way we can use technology to do that at a global scale," Altman said to Bloomberg.
- Aspirations of financial inclusion are nothing new in crypto, though the concept of scanning eyeballs may be seen as a controversial way of achieving it.
- Worldcoin, whose backers include Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase Ventures and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, recently raised around $25 million from investors, Bloomberg said.
Read more: Anchorage Adds Custody for Celo’s Euro Stablecoin
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Dogecoin, PEPE rocket as much as 25% as 2026 starts with a bang for memecoins
The broader meme coin market is heating up, with CoinGecko's GMCI Meme Index showing a market value of $33.8 billion and a trading volume of $5.9 billion.
What to know:
- Dogecoin and Pepe led a significant meme coin rally, with Dogecoin rising 11% and Pepe surging 17% in a single day.
- The broader meme coin market is heating up, with CoinGecko's GMCI Meme Index showing a market value of $33.8 billion and a trading volume of $5.9 billion.
- Traders are speculating on meme coins as a high-risk, high-reward opportunity amid uneven liquidity and a lack of clear macroeconomic catalysts.
Top Stories
