Sam Altman-backed Worldcoin project launches mainnet blockchain following a rebrand

Worldcoin WLD -4.27% , the Sam Altman-backed digital identity project, is rebranding to World Network — or World for short.

Along with the rebrand, the project announced World Chain has launched on mainnet. World Chain is the Ethereum-secured Layer 2 blockchain network connected to the project. Optimism, Alchemy, Uniswap, Safe, Dune and Etherscan will support the blockchain's launch.

"As the scale of the project grows along with the importance of World ID’s proof of human protocol, the name 'Worldcoin' no longer encapsulates the mission of the project, to accelerate every human," World wrote in a release shared with The Block. "With its three key pillars (World Chain, World ID and Worldcoin), World is truly a network of real, verified humans built to enable an optimistic future in which humans will continue to be at the center of AI progress."

Worldcoin , launched in July 2023, offers a digital identity solution called World ID , which helps verify users' humanity and identity online and onchain. People who give their biometric data (i.e. an iris scan via a metal orb) to prove their "personhood" receive that online passport and the cryptocurrency WLD. World Network claims to have over 10 million signups across 160 countries.

The lead developer behind the project, Tools For Humanity, is co-founded by Altman, who also serves as CEO of OpenAI. World Network is a project that hopes to help differentiate humans from automated actors as the internet becomes increasingly populated by AI chatbots and assistants.

'Humans only'

"World Chain is a humans-only community with more useful apps, savings on gas fees and eventually, the ability to share your voice in the direction of World Chain itself," the team wrote.

The blockchain is built using the OP Stack. User transactions represent about 44% of OP Mainnet’s activity, making it the largest application on the network, World Network says.

WLD is currently valued at $2.13, down 3.68% in the past 24 hours, according to The Block's price page . WLD has a market capitalization of $1.1 billion.