Sam Altman is best known as the founder of OpenAI. Although ChatGPT made him a household name, another of his ventures, Worldcoin, may prove even more consequential — and far more dangerous.
Unlike AI, whose long-term risks remain mostly theoretical, Worldcoin is already physical, operational and quietly embedding itself into the infrastructure of daily life. In the name of financial inclusion, it lays the foundation for a biometric economy — one where the right to transact, travel, communicate or even date is conditioned on proving who you are.
And proving it not with a name, not with a password, but with your biology.
Worldcoin has launched in six major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta and Austin. It is piloting a partnership with Tinder in Japan, merging biometric identity verification with digital intimacy.
This is not some fringe crypto experiment. Rather, it is a full-scale identity protocol masquerading as a convenience tool. And it’s targeting soft-entry points: dating apps, ride-sharing services, job platforms and payment systems.
Worldcoin’s vision is simple: a global digital ID, powered by biometric data and sweetened with crypto incentives. Users scan their irises using the company’s Orb device. In return, they receive WLD tokens and access to a growing ecosystem of services. There’s even a Worldcoin Visa card, linked directly to the World App. It allows users to spend crypto anywhere Visa is accepted. It’s frictionless. Fast. Rewarding.
And that’s precisely the problem.
This isn’t just about making payments. This is a biometric filter dressed up as financial empowerment, a sorting system sold as inclusion. Behind the smooth interface lies a blueprint for a hierarchy of access. Verified humans are visible. Verified humans are safe. Verified humans get priority.
And those who aren’t verified? They’re not just offline — they’re flagged. Delayed. Questioned. Denied.
We are staring down the barrel of a digital caste system in which economic freedom is algorithmically assigned and biometric proof becomes the price of admission. Those who comply are fast-tracked. Those who don’t are slowed, sidelined or shut out. Access becomes a privilege, not a right, granted by a system that ranks and sorts human beings by their willingness to submit to constant verification.
The goal isn’t to disrupt. It is to integrate — painlessly, invisibly and permanently. It’s about making compliance seamless. There is always a good reason to scan at first: It’s easier, faster, and safer. But each use deepens the trap, embedding a new expectation: prove who you are or forfeit access. And when this architecture spreads far enough, non-participation will no longer feel like a choice. It will feel like disobedience.
If Altman’s project gains more traction, widespread integration is practically inevitable. Finance, education, transportation, social services, rental applications and welfare systems — wherever identity is required, Worldcoin sees opportunity. The endgame is integration with national identity systems: passports, driver’s licenses and social credit mechanisms.
The more it integrates into essential functions, the less room there is to opt out. This is how coercion begins — not with force but with convenience, not with orders but with offers.
And governments are paying close attention. Worldcoin has already held talks with regulators and floated collaborations with public institutions. The appeal for state actors is obvious: a privately built surveillance-grade infrastructure, already normalized, ready for handoff. There’s no need to build a digital ID regime from scratch, because Worldcoin has done all the heavy lifting.
But it’s not being welcomed everywhere. Indonesia, a nation of 270 million, recently suspended Worldcoin over registration issues and possible violations of digital system laws. If Jakarta sees enough red flags to hit pause, why is Washington ignoring them?
The company insists it won’t enable facial recognition or centralized tracking, at least for now. But tech promises matter very little. What matters are not the words but the actions. What’s being built is a biometric regime with no democratic oversight, no meaningful transparency, no known exit ramp.
Worldcoin is not just a crypto project. It is not just a payment app. It is an identity regime — one that redefines citizenship itself as something that must be proven constantly, biometrically and on someone else’s terms. Tinder is just the trial balloon; Sam Altman’s AI may one day reshape how we think. But his biometric empire is already reshaping how we live, and it’s happening faster than anyone is prepared to admit.
John Mac Ghlionn is a writer and researcher who explores culture, society and the impact of technology on daily life.
