Chainfeeds Preface:
Worldcoin is building a global identity and financial network that protects privacy, based on the "Proof of Personhood" concept.
Article Source:
https://panteracapital.com/world-a-mission-critical-identity-solution/
Article Author:
Pantera Capital
Perspective:
Pantera Capital: With the increase of AI agents and automatically generated content, verifying "unique humans" will become a core requirement for commercial and government applications. In case AI productivity significantly replaces human labor, governments' universal basic income (UBI) will also depend on such "human identity" verification. World's solution has natural advantages, combining iris scanning + blockchain certification, breaking geographical limitations and being resistant to censorship, with global advantages compared to traditional identity systems. In less than two years since launch, over 12 million people have been verified, with approximately 45,000 new wallets daily on Worldchain. Sam Altman and the TFH team's credibility helps quickly establish global cooperation and government trust. The World network is still in early stages, with only 12 million people verified, and user growth is currently the highest priority. Since certification requires face-to-face iris scanning, hardware deployment is a bottleneck. To address this, World is accelerating Orbs (certification devices) production and global deployment, introducing self-service Orbs, and planning to launch a compact Orb Mini in 2026, aiming to break through to over 100 million verifications. In 2025, six major US cities (including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, etc.) have started Orbs deployment, planning to deploy 7,500 units by year-end, combined with retail channel marketing activities to enhance user adoption and retention. The Mini App ecosystem (with 55 million downloads) will become a regular user interaction entry point. World was briefly restricted in some regions early on (such as Hong Kong, Kenya, Spain, Portugal). However, recently, regulatory attitudes are becoming more open. TFH has strengthened communication with local governments, conducting pre-deployment consultations with government departments in Southeast Asia (Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia), and enhancing compliance and privacy agreements. A World Bank-level cooperation example: Malaysia's MyEG (government service platform) has embedded Orb verification in its driver's license and identity card services. Commercialization paths and scale potential include on-chain transaction fees and World ID service fees. If World verifies 5 billion people, with each person contributing $5 annually (about 0.05% of per capita GDP), annual revenue could reach $250 billion; with high free cash flow and valuation multiples, market value could exceed $250 billion. We are very optimistic about World's technological layout and market prospects: in a future where human identity and AI agents coexist, reliable verification of "unique humans" is crucial. World has deep advantages in technology, team, early implementation, and compliance cooperation. Although the path to realizing this vision is long and faces uncertainties in promotion speed, incentive mechanisms, macro crypto volatility, and competition from large companies with their own identity solutions, we believe World may become an important part of the "human identity infrastructure" in the digital age due to the timely trends of AI, digital identity, and on-chain economy.
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