Embattled Worldcoin To Launch Layer-2 Blockchain Called World Chain

Worldcoin, the project that urges people to scan their irises in exchange for cryptocurrency, has just announced World Chain, a new layer-2 blockchain solution that will be secured by the Ethereum network.

The Sam Altman-backed crypto biometrics project said World Chain is a new blockchain "designed for humans." It will be "an open and permissionless network," much like other decentralized networks in the vast cryptocurrency sector.

World Chain has been engineered "for scale to one day fit every person." The scoop is, "verified humans will enjoy priority blockspace over bots and a free gas allowance." This could mean that users who want to the experience the new layer-2 blockchain's perks will need to get their irises scanned through the Worldcoin Orb, which is under global scrutiny for alleged privacy lapses.

Worldcoin said in a statement that the new network "will be deeply integrated with the Worldcoin protocol to accelerate growth and leverage World ID's Proof of Personhood." It went on to note that transactions among Worldcoin users represent around 44% of the activity on the OP (formerly Optimism) Mainnet, making the project the largest application on the network.

Bots are one of the main problems that blockchain networks face today, Worldcoin said. In many cases, airdrop farming bots often lead to high fees and congested networks, but the Orb iris scanning initiative should resolve this issue, it added. The crypto project noted that verifying an address through World Chain is "optional and anonymized through zero-knowledge proofs," which means digital wallet addresses are completely delinked from a user's identity.

World Chain will launch sometime in the summer, according to the crypto project.

The new project's announcement comes amid increasing international criticism from several governments over the data privacy concerns.

The latest country to slap a temporary ban on Worldcoin was Portugal. The country's data regulator asked the project to halt its biometric data collection of Portuguese citizens for 90 days until it completes a probe to look into reports that Worldcoin was collecting data "from minors without the authorization of their parents or other legal representatives." There was also an alleged lack of information provided by the project to its data subjects.

It was also banned for three months in Spain after the country's data protection agency said it received complaints regarding Worldcoin's data collection on minors and its prevention of consent withdrawal, "among other infringements" on the Spanish public's data privacy rights.