Crypto startup that wants to scan everyone’s eyeballs is having some trouble

Worldcoin aims to photograph the irises of everyone on earth in order to identify them so it can distribute its new digital money fairly. — Photo by Joel Staveley on Unsplash

Worldcoin – the billion-dollar startup that wants to give cryptocurrency to every living human by imaging their eyes – has recently halted operations in at least seven countries due to a host of logistical hurdles that have prompted it to redraw its launch plans.

Co-founded in 2020 by former Y Combinator chief Sam Altman, Worldcoin aims to photograph the irises of everyone on earth in order to identify them so it can distribute its new digital money fairly. So far, the company has collected images of the eyes of hundreds of thousands of people in about 20 countries. But the process has been bedevilled by problems such as uneven smartphone access, confused users and fraud attempts.