Human interaction verification company aims to grow ecosystem in Argentina

Tools for Humanity, which is behind the World (formerly Worldcoin) foundation, administrator of a verification system to ensure human interaction, plans to expand into Argentina next year.

World offers cryptocurrencies in exchange for iris scans, and with more than 2.3mn people having scanned their irises, the country has achieved a critical mass of users to begin attracting the attention of companies that require its identity verification system.

“I think that with 2.3mn [verified users] in Argentina, 2025 is the year in which we have to put in the effort to inspire that local creativity and articulate with entrepreneurs, companies and the public sector to promote use cases,” Martín Mazza, manager of Tools for Humanity, told reporters in response to a question by BNamericas during Santex Week.

World was founded by Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, which develops ChatGPT, and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Alex Blania.

Local media reported Altman as saying that he may visit Buenos Aires soon.

Tools for Humanity seeks to create a protocol for verifying human presence online through credentials created from iris biometric scanning.

But suspicions about the company's use of personal data have forced World to change its name, suspend activity and face investigations in several countries. "We paused in Spain and Portugal due to a misunderstanding of the platform. Today, World could launch in Spain and operate, but the data protection agency is being given time to complete its opinion. We are in dialogue with them," Mazza said.

Buenos Aires province fined the company for failing to comply with the consumer protection law.

"The foundation appealed the province's decision and now we have to give it time for a resolution, but we believe that it is a misunderstanding of the platform due to not having a full understanding of the project," said the executive.

The company claims that biometric data is not stored and that human identity information is stored decentralized in a blockchain.

World's verification could be used for fraud mitigation or to ensure that a person is behind an online transaction. Companies that want to use the platform are being charged for the computational value required by the blockchain.

People who have verified their identity receive cryptocurrency as a reward for providing their data. Traditionally, companies in the industry store user data without giving financial rewards.

Tools for Humanity holds about 3% of its own cryptocurrency reserve.