Worldcoin Hits New Record in Argentina, Adoption in India Still High

Worldcoin has hit a new record in Argentina and released an update to the verification process. A spokesperson talked with Cryptonews about plans in 2024, Worldcoin surpassing the 5M-accounts milestone, the successful Shopify integration, and continued World App adoption in India, despite pausing its Orb-verification service there.

New Record

The growing interest in World ID in Argentina has resulted in a new national record, said Worldcoin. There were nearly 16,000 Orb verifications in a single day in late December.

According to the announcement,

“More than 1% of the Argentine population has now verified their World ID, similar to milestones set in Chile (1.5%), Spain (0.8%) and Portugal (2.5%).”

The rise in verifications, it added, comes weeks after the launch of World ID 2.0. This is the second generation of Worldcoin’s proof of humanity.

Record World ID interest in Argentina has led to new World App innovation 🫡https://t.co/8JJxCxGNYZ

— Worldcoin (@worldcoin) January 11, 2024

As for future plans, a spokesperson told Cryptonews that Worldcoin “expects to see additional integrations launch in 2024 and beyond.”

It recently announced expansion plans to Mexico and Singapore. It aims to keep scaling to meet demand for its World ID verification services in 2024.

The team also looks forward to seeing how developers build on World ID, it said.

Updated Verification Process

The Tools for Humanity (TFH) team has released an update to the in-app verification process, the announcement added. This is the company behind Worldcoin’s first wallet, World App.

There is now a new multi-hour appointment window available. Per the team, it is:

“Designed to help streamline Orb verifications and reduce wait times for those with booked appointments, which are mandatory in Argentina.”

World App users can easily identify their nearest Orb locations, said the announcement, and book an appointment to verify their World ID.

The ability to verify the World ID unlocks up to one hour before the scheduled appointment. It is available up to two hours after it.

Users can also cancel and reschedule appointments.

Surpassing 5 Million Accounts

Worldcoin is a decentralized open-source protocol created around the Worldcoin token and the decentralized World ID. It uses biometric authentication to differentiate between a human and a bot.

It is backed by prominent investors and co-founded by Sam Altman, the Chief Executive Officer of OpenAI , the team behind the generative AI chatbot ChatGPT.

In May 2023, Worldcoin launched its World App. Six months later, World App reached over one million active users (MAUs) and over four million downloads.

Per the spokesperson, World App is “thriving.” In late December, it surpassed 5 million accounts and 1 million weekly users.

world app just crossed 5m users and is now used by 1m per week

super grateful to everyone that has tried it, you made 2023 very special pic.twitter.com/BSojbJo4zF

— tiago sada (@tiagosada) December 21, 2023

Shopify Integration Was ‘Immediate Success’

World ID 2.0 features integrations with popular platforms like Mercado Libre in Argentina, the latest announcement said. Other integrations include Reddit, as well as an early anti-fraud retail integration with Shopify.

To demonstrate the anti-fraud tool, Worldcoin debuted a limited-time Shopify store in December 2023. It recently released the results, stating:

“With minimal promotion, the online pop-up store was a near immediate success. The initial supply of sweatshirts sold out within the first 12 hours, and within the first 40 hours all items were officially out of stock.”

In total, more than 2,000 “unique humans” in more than 45 countries across 6 continents placed orders.

Per TFH’s Tiago Sada, “by ensuring actions are taken by unique humans and not bots, businesses can better protect themselves against fraud while reaching as wide and fairly distributed an audience as possible.”

‘Broad Adoption’ of Worldcoin in India Despite Orb-Verification Pause

Worldcoin recently paused its Orb-verification service in India, Brazil, and France. The Orb, a five-pound chromatic sphere, scans individuals’ eyeballs to verify their identities.

The Worldcoin Foundation stated that World App “continues to experience broad adoption” in India, with thousands of downloads each week.

“Orb-verified proof of personhood services have been temporarily scaled back as the protocol works to develop and roll out a bespoke, safe, and orderly process that sufficiently meets the demand for World ID in India.”

Individuals can refer to the World App and Worldcoin website for updates regarding Orb availability near them.

Furthermore, according to a person close to the matter,

“Essentially, Brazil and France are currently exactly where the Worldcoin protocol said they would be earlier this year.”

Worldcoin reiterated that the orb verification services were intentionally only available for a limited-time preview.

“There are plans in 2024 to launch those markets in a more ongoing (non-preview) way. Therefore, this really isn’t news unless the protocol doing something it said it would do is news,” the person close to the matter said.