31/07/2023
It's As Bad As You Think & People Are Lining Up For It
Is the Worldcoin cryptocurrency system a terrible idea? The answer is a resounding yes, according to experts.
The Worldcoin cryptocurrency system promises to revolutionize financial transactions using biometric information, mainly from poor countries. But now, according to reports, it looks as if it may be more of a scourge than a savior.
The issue lies in the farming of eye data used to power the system. To gather the data, Worldcoin offered to pay the participants in the poorer countries, leading to a ‘what will people do for money?’ quandary.
But that’s not the only problem. It appears that a black market for verified credentials has been created, allowing anyone with $30 to command more than one digital identity. Of course, that raises a whole slew of ethical and security-related issues.
In addition, many question the trustworthiness of the company. Sam Altman, the co-founder of Worldcoin, is also the head of OpenAI, a firm that is currently being sued over allegations of unethical data use. His activities have raised flags.
Worldcoin’s team insists that they will delete all biometric data once their algorithms are fully trained. However, many remain skeptical, citing the firm’s lack of transparency when it comes to handling sensitive information. Zero-knowledge proofs are presented as a safeguard, but it’s been seen as more of a distraction from the broader issues at hand.
The danger of permanently linking biometric information to a financial system is very real. Imagine if your digital identity is lost or blocked in some way. You can’t reset your digital personhood like you can a bank account. Instead of Minority Report, it would be more like “no soup for you”.
While Worldcoin claims to be a system “owned by everyone”, its token distribution is far from equal. Of the ten billion tokens that will ever exist, insiders are allocated 25%. And just 1% of the tokens are in circulation, mostly in the hands of market makers.
All in all, the Worldcoin cryptocurrency system is a ticking time bomb. The idea of harvesting eye data from poor countries and incentivizing them to do so for a few extra bucks brings dubious ethical considerations from the start. In addition, the firm’s lack of transparency when it comes to privacy and security protocols, combined with its unfair token distribution system, is highly concerning.
The proverbial jury is still out, but it’s not looking good for Worldcoin. Until Mr. Altman and his team can prove that their system is trustworthy and their mission is aligned with ethical values, it’s best to stay away from Worldcoin.