CoinFund CEO Jake Brukhman argues that Worldcoin can become bigger, more widely distributed, and even more valuable than Bitcoin.
Brukhman’s incredible list of claims came during an appearance on the Unchained Podcast during the first week of August. The claims are being met with skepticism by a crypto community that views Worldcoin and its World ID goals with a huge amount of suspicion.
Big things for Worldcoin?
CoinFund CEO Jake Brukhman is touting Worldcoin for bigger things than Bitcoin, even though the crypto is not distributed in the U.S. due to regulatory hurdles.
On Wednesday, Brukhman made the case for Worldcoin’s global domination to Laura Shin, host of the Unchained Podcast.
“One of the central ideas of Worldcoin is that if you can create a distribution of a digital asset that’s extremely wide, you can basically build a cryptocurrency that’s bigger and more valuable than Bitcoin,” said Brukhman.
Brukhman states, “At some point, we can get to a billion users, we think, in Worldcoin, and that would probably make it more widely distributed than Bitcoin.”
A billion users would surpass Bitcoin users: the issue Worldcoin must overcome is achieving this adoption. Worldcoin already avoids the U.S. market for fear of the litigious U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and regulators in the U.K., France, and Germany are investigating the crypto over data privacy concerns.
The cryptocurrency is not off to a great start in multiple regions worldwide. With significant roadblocks ahead, it is unclear how Worldcoin will ever reach its billion-user goal.
CoinFund invested in Worldcoin in February 2021.
Excuse me if a VC that’s invested in Worldcoin saying worldcoin could be bigger than Bitcoin isn’t all that compelling to me.
— ⬣Dogeinsuit⎔ (@dogeinsuit) August 2, 2023
What is Worldcoin?
In its own words, “Worldcoin aims to establish universal access to the global economy regardless of country or background. It is designed to become the world’s largest human identity and financial network, giving ownership to everyone.”
The project shares a founder with OpenAI in the form of Sam Altman, who is gaining an unrivalled reputation for bringing dystopian-themed projects to market.
Altman’s Worldcoin claims it is “building the world’s largest identity and financial network as a public utility, giving ownership to everyone.’
The marketing sounds very positive without further scrutiny. The rub lies in the detail of how Worldcoin aims to achieve its many lofty ambitions.
To join Worldcoin, users must first submit to an iris scan from ‘the orb’ – a metallic sphere that resembles a chrome-plated basketball. The iris scan is then transformed into a cryptographic hash while the original scan – Worldcoin maintains – is deleted. Only the hash remains.
The hash alone may be bad enough, however. Worldcoin hopes to leverage its technology to create a more “human internet” with “global proof-of-personhood.”
In other words, it hopes to create a new World ID system. The website invites users to “Get your World ID,” which will run chills up the spine of every privacy-loving individual.
Investors in the project include CoinFund, Andreessen Horowitz, and disgraced FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
Worldcoin is a bigger attack on the values of crypto than any law so far proposed in Western democracies to deal with peer to peer money.
A solution to a problem that doesn't exist. And essentially an air drop in exchange for biometric data; grotesque and misguided. #bitcoin
— heliothorn (@heliothorn) July 25, 2023
Bigger ain’t better
Even if – and that’s a big if – Worldcoin captures huge numbers of users to its network as Brukhman predicts, that won’t impress the crypto community.
Worldcoin is the antithesis of the crypto industry, especially Bitcoin, whose users overwhelmingly hold libertarian values and ideals.
Worldcoin can onboard as many users as it likes; bigger does not mean better.
and then