TWhat Tools for Humanity does: It develops Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency and digital identity project aimed at building a global financial and identity network. How its product works: A hardware device called the Orb scans a person’s iris to create a unique, privacy-preserving digital identity called a World ID, and Worldcoin (WLD) tokens are distributed to individuals who sign up. How it differs from competitors: It combines biometrics-based identity verification (iris scans) with crypto onboarding to rapidly grow a global user base, focusing on financial inclusion in developing markets, and offering free Worldcoin tokens to new users. What its goal is: to establish a worldwide financial and identity network with broad user adoption, enabling access to financial services and verifiable identity through a shared crypto-based system.
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2019
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Tools for Humanity (TFH), the company co-founded by Sam Altman and Alex Blania, has joined the Zoom ISV Exchange Program. World ID for Zoom is now available in the Zoom Marketplace, letting business customers verify that meeting participants are real people, not deepfakes. Customers can buy the tool and request Orbs, the hardware used for one-time Proof of Human verification, at their offices. The system matches a signed Orb image, a live selfie, and the video frame others see. If all three match, a Human Badge appears on the participant's video tile. Deloitte estimates AI-enabled fraud losses in the US could grow from $12.3 billion in 2023 to $40 billion by 2027.
Your boss may soon want to scan your eyes before your next Zoom call. "On a long enough timeline, you will be forced to orb." By Kyle Torpey Published October 20, 2026, 5:00 am ET Reading time 5 minutes World, the iris-scanning identity project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, now offers a way for people on Zoom calls to prove they are humans rather than deepfakes. To sign workers up, World is offering to place its Orbs inside client offices, and some of the first financial firms lined up to try it, or their crypto arms, have also bought World's WLD token. World ID for Zoom became generally available to Zoom's enterprise customers on Sunday. World lists Bain Capital, OpenExchange, Outtake, Pantera Capital, and VanEck Funds as initial design partners. Previously, Bain Capital Crypto, the crypto arm of Bain Capital, bought WLD in a May 2025 $135 million token sale, and Pantera led a $52.5 million WLD sale in July that Bain Capital Crypto also joined. World's parent company, Tools for Humanity, built the project around the Orb, a sphere that photographs a person's face and irises to confirm they are a unique human before issuing a World ID. The project launched as Worldcoin, with a pitch centered on a new cryptocurrency handed out to anyone willing to get their eyes scanned. I argued back in 2021 that the token was a bad idea for some obvious reasons, and WLD is currently down around 95% from its all-time high, according to data from CoinGecko. Tools for Humanity also told staff about layoffs in June, on the same day that Altman's other company, OpenAI, announced it had confidentially filed for an initial public offering. These days, the company talks less about the coin and more about World ID as a response to the dead internet, the theory that much of online activity is now bots talking to bots, and as a way to prove someone is human online. Of course, Altman is also heavily involved in creating the very problems World is designed to solve. OpenAI launched the Sora 2 video app in September 2025, and its feed quickly filled with realistic AI videos of Altman himself. One Altman company makes fake video easier to produce, while the other sells a way to prove you aren't one. How World ID for Zoom works. According to a sales deck for World ID for Zoom, the system runs a "3-way match" between the face image captured by the Orb, a live selfie taken in the World ID app, and frames from the Zoom video feed. The selfie check is World's Face Auth feature, first piloted in September 2024, and the Orb image is a signed copy kept on the user's phone under a system World calls Personal Custody. When all three line up, a Human badge appears on the participant's video tile, visible to everyone on the call whether or not they use World, and a single check keeps it active on that Zoom account for 24 hours by default, though employers can stretch that to as long as 30 days. "We'll set up an Orb at your office so that any employee can verify their World ID," the deck's first step for employers reads. Tools for Humanity CEO Alex Blania unveiled the Zoom product at the Money20/20 fintech conference as part of a World ID suite for banks and other financial firms, according to The Block. The Block noted that no bank was named as a customer and that partners are exploring the technology. The Zoom partnership dates back to April, when World first announced the integration alongside a Tinder deal. What's new is broad availability and a direct pitch to employers. According to Fortune, firms including Bain Capital and VanEck Funds are bringing the tool into their workplaces, and a World spokesperson told the outlet that the financial firms will keep Orbs in their offices to sign up employees who haven't scanned their irises before. Tiago Sada, World's chief product officer, told Fortune that people understand they don't have to hand their photos to Altman or anyone at World, pointing to the project's open-source code. "I think 90% of the crypto space is BS, but 10% is profound," Sada said. A long list of controversies. In May 2025, Kenya's High Court ordered Worldcoin entities to delete the biometric data they had collected in the country, finding that consent had been obtained through inducement with WLD distributions. Hong Kong's privacy commissioner also ordered the project to stop scanning in May 2024 after finding its collection of face and iris images "unnecessary and excessive." In October 2025, the Philippines' National Privacy Commission issued a cease-and-desist order after concluding that token incentives amounted to "undue influence" that made users' consent invalid. Authorities in Spain, Portugal, Indonesia, and a variety of other countries have also taken action against the project. Those cases largely involved people being paid in crypto for their biometrics. Whether regulators would view consent differently when the push comes from an employer is an open question. Verified World IDs have also been sold for cash. In 2023, a black market for them surfaced in China, with credentials reportedly sourced from people in Cambodia and Kenya. In August 2025, crypto investigator ZachXBT posted a screenshot of what he claimed were verified World ID accounts going for $5-$15. World has added safeguards like Face Auth that should, in theory, make a stolen, purchased, or borrowed World ID useless on a Zoom call unless the original owner is the one on camera when the check runs. Face Auth isn't required for everything, though. "World ID app may ask you to complete Face Authentication when you access certain features or need to confirm it's still you," World's help center says. The project's whitepaper also concedes it can't fully stop this kind of misuse. "While complete prevention of [Proof of Human] delegation to bad actors is likely impossible, several measures can significantly increase the difficulty and economic cost of such actions," it reads. The biggest controversy around World is likely still the Orb itself. Staring into a ball-shaped computer so it can photograph your irises looks dystopian no matter how many privacy protections stand behind it. World says the Orb deletes its images after sending them, encrypted, to the user's phone, and its sales deck claims the Zoom match happens "completely on the user's device without the video, real-time selfie or Orb images ever leaving the user's device." Still, for many people, there's no escaping the inherent creepiness of the Orb. If the Orb does show up at the office, plenty of workers may decide those concerns matter less than keeping their jobs. As Jito Head of Governance Nick Almond once put it, "On a long enough timeline, you will be forced to orb."
World ID for Zoom adds iris verification for enterprise. Tools for Humanity brings its iris-scanning Orb to corporate meeting rooms, with financial firms like Bain Capital among the first adopters Rex Edison Oct 20, 2026 Key Takeaways * World ID for Zoom uses three-way iris and selfie matching to badge verified humans. * A Human Badge confirms a real person on screen but not their meeting authorization. * Voluntary biometric enrollment risks becoming coercive when employers control access to key meetings. You join a high-stakes Zoom call and a small surveillance app-era badge on your video tile tells everyone in the meeting that you are a verified human, not a deepfake or an automated agent. That scenario is now a live product. Tools for Humanity, the company behind World and its Orb devices, has made World ID for Zoom available to enterprise customers worldwide through the Zoom Marketplace. World's current focus centers on proving that online participants are real, unique people. How it works. Verification combines three separate data points to confirm that the person on screen matches a previously enrolled identity record. Verification relies on a three-way cryptographic match: an image captured by an Orb device, a live selfie taken through the World ID app, and the participant's Zoom video feed. All three must align before a Human Badge appears on participant's tile, visible to everyone in the meeting. Enrollment is a one-time process that requires a visit to an Orb. According to Fortune, financial firms including Bain Capital and VanEck Funds plan to place Orb devices inside their offices so employees can enroll on-site, though that reporting could not be independently confirmed from primary sources before publication. Organizations can configure how long a Human Badge remains active before re-verification is required. World states that no personal information is sent to Zoom and that the matching process runs on the user's device; those are company claims and have not been independently audited. What the badge does and doesn't prove. A Human Badge confirms a real person is on screen, but it says nothing about whether that person belongs in the meeting. A Human Badge provides a visible trust signal that the participant matched a previously verified World ID record. It does not confirm the person is authorized to attend the meeting, employed by a specific organization, or cleared to discuss confidential information. World lists Bain Capital, OpenExchange, Outtake, Pantera Capital, and VanEck Funds as initial design partners exploring applications in financial services. Bain Capital Crypto and Pantera Capital reportedly participated in WLD token sales in 2025; their roles as investors and design partners should not be read as evidence of full workforce adoption. Enrollment is Voluntary, until it isn't. When employers control access to important meetings, the line between optional and required can blur quickly. Employees who decline biometric enrollment could face professional disadvantage even without an explicit policy requiring participation. Whether that constitutes coercion depends on jurisdiction, company data governance, and available alternatives. World's biometric model has drawn regulatory scrutiny in Kenya, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Spain, Portugal, and Indonesia. Concerns have centered on data necessity, excessive collection, and whether incentives undermine genuine consent. An earlier case of secretly tracking users illustrates how quickly data-collection practices can outpace user awareness and consent frameworks. Workplace deployment raises a different kind of pressure: not a token reward, but access to your job. The legal picture across jurisdictions is not settled. This product reflects a widening tension in the AI era. As generative tools make deepfakes more convincing, workers may face growing pressure to submit sensitive biometric data just to prove they are not synthetic. For many employees, the question may not be whether they want to enroll. It may be whether they can afford not to. Our Editorial Process At Gadget Review, our guides, reviews, and news are driven by thorough human expertise and use our Trust Rating system and the True Score. AI assists in refining our editorial process, ensuring that every article is engaging, clear and succinct. See how we write our content here
Worldcoin launches Banking suite with VanEck and Bain Capital partnerships. 2026-10-19 06:30:34 Key takeaways. * Tools for Humanity launched World ID for Banking and Finance suite on October 18 with VanEck, Pantera Capital, and Bain Capital partnerships. * World network claims 18 million verified humans registered through Orb verification for cryptographic proof-of-human identification. * WLD token price fell to $0.478 on October 18 with open interest declining 5.1% and negative funding. Tools for Humanity's World network launched its World ID for Banking and Finance suite on October 18, partnering with Wall Street institutions including VanEck, Pantera Capital, and Bain Capital to counter AI-driven deepfakes through a new Zoom integration. The expansion aims to provide cryptographic proof-of-human verification for financial institutions facing threats from AI impersonation. However, the launch has intensified scrutiny over how Worldcoin's biometric database was constructed, following a 2022 MIT Technology Review investigation that documented recruitment practices in countries including Kenya and Indonesia, where participants received cryptocurrency, cash, or gifts for submitting to Orb verification. Tools for Humanity launches World ID for Banking and Finance suite. On October 18, Tools for Humanity announced the World ID for Banking and Finance suite, integrating its proof-of-human cryptographic architecture with Zoom to address AI-driven deepfake threats in financial communications. The system establishes that someone is a unique human, confirms their presence, or verifies selected attributes. Sam Altman's firm partnered with Wall Street institutions including VanEck, Pantera Capital, and Bain Capital for the rollout. The network claims 18 million verified humans registered through its Orb verification process. World states its cryptographic architecture can provide identity assurances without exposing unnecessary personal information. MIT Technology Review documents Worldcoin recruitment practices in 2022. A 2022 investigation by MIT Technology Review documented Worldcoin recruitment practices across several countries, including Kenya and Indonesia. Participants described receiving cryptocurrency, cash, or gifts for signing up. The investigation raised questions about informed consent when financial incentives are offered to people with limited resources. Reddit discussions in r/degoogle and project forums indicate many of the claimed 18 million verified humans registered primarily to receive rewards, creating a disparity between registered biometrics and active user engagement. Critics argue this creates a database built on asymmetric economic incentives rather than informed participation. WLD price drops to $0.478 following October 17 peak. WLD bounced to $0.547 on October 17 before falling to $0.478 on October 18. Open interest declined 5.1% over 24 hours, while funding turned negative. DeFiLlama lists 10 billion WLD as the maximum supply and approximately 3.819 billion as circulating on October 19, with 58.19% of tokens unlocked. Analysts estimate 1.02 billion WLD in releases over the following 12 months, worth approximately $500 million at current prices. Token supply figures indicate potential dilution against evidence of sustainable demand. Eightco Holdings and Bitmine Immersion hold WLD treasury positions. Public market vehicles like Eightco Holdings (NASDAQ: ORBS), backed by institutional investors including Bitmine Immersion (NYSE: BMNR), have accumulated treasuries of WLD. These entities also hold private-market equity positions in Sam Altman's OpenAI and Jimmy Donaldson's Beast Industries (MrBeast). The institutional structure connects Worldcoin's biometric network to broader corporate holdings spanning AI development and entertainment distribution. Faq. What did Tools for Humanity launch on October 18? Tools for Humanity launched its World ID for Banking and Finance suite on October 18, partnering with VanEck, Pantera Capital, and Bain Capital to provide cryptographic proof-of-human verification through a Zoom integration. What did the 2022 MIT Technology Review investigation document about Worldcoin? The 2022 MIT Technology Review investigation documented Worldcoin recruitment practices in countries including Kenya and Indonesia, where participants received cryptocurrency, cash, or gifts for submitting to Orb verification, raising questions about informed consent when financial incentives are offered to people with limited resources. What was WLD's price movement on October 17 and October 18? WLD reached $0.547 on October 17 before falling to $0.478 on October 18, with open interest declining 5.1% over 24 hours and funding turning negative. Disclaimer: The information on this page may come from third-party sources and is for reference only. It does not represent the views or opinions of Gate and does not constitute any financial, investment, or legal advice. Virtual asset trading involves high risk. Please do not rely solely on the information on this page when making decisions. For details, see the Disclaimer.
Tools for Humanity's World network launched a "World ID for Banking and Finance" suite on October 18. The product, backed by Sam Altman, integrates with Zoom to counter AI-driven deepfakes. Named partners include VanEck, Pantera Capital, and Bain Capital. Critics question how World built its biometric database, which it says covers 18 million verified humans. A 2022 MIT Technology Review investigation found people in countries including Kenya and Indonesia received crypto, cash, or gifts to sign up. Kenya's High Court ruled Worldcoin's operations violated data protection law, leading to an order to delete data from over 350,000 citizens. Chile's Supreme Court also ruled against it. WLD fell from $0.547 on October 17 to $0.478 the next day.
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Industries
Company Size
201-500
Company Stage
Late Stage VC
Total Funding
$240M
Headquarters
San Francisco, CA
Founded
2019
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