Sam Altman’s “World” -the biometric identity and crypto project- has turned its controversial biometric ID wallet into a full-blown crypto “super app.” The 11 December 2025 release adds end-to-end encrypted chat, in-chat crypto payments, and virtual accounts that look a lot like a Web3 version of Venmo or Revolut. The company is positioning it as a social, payments, and identity hub for “verified humans.”
“Today, that network becomes even more powerful,” the company PR said. “The new World App is a complete reimagination of how humans connect, move digital assets and participate in the global economy.”
Tools for Humanity, the company behind World, launched the original app in 2023 as a minimalist crypto wallet tied to its iris-based World ID system, aimed at proving a user is human in a world flooded by AI bots and deepfakes.
“It’s really hard to both identify unique people and to do that in a privacy-preserving way…having a human-centric system turned out to be way more important in the world today than we realized.”
– Sam Altman pic.twitter.com/SWAF2MHM7Z
— World (@worldcoin) December 12, 2025
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At The Center Of The Upgrade Is World Chat
What to expect from World Chat? A built-in messenger designed to sit alongside the wallet as the primary user experience. The chat system uses end-to-end encryption, with the company explicitly comparing its security level to privacy-focused apps like Signal.
What does this simply mean? Conversations are intended to be unreadable to anyone but the participants.
“Messages display blue bubbles for verified humans and gray bubbles for those who haven’t verified,” the company insisted. “Profile pictures will be verified against Orb photos stored on a user’s phone – meaning the face you see genuinely belongs to the real World ID holder.”
GM!
I watched Sam Altman at the @worldcoin presentation, and for the first time I really feel like I understand the vision.
It feels inevitable that "proof of human" is going to become a staple part of society in the age of AI fakes.
Risk on Worldcoin. pic.twitter.com/gg1ZwTTOp4
— NØX (@NoxxyWeb3) December 12, 2025
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Sam Altman-Backed Worldcoin Launches The Iris Scanning Project In The US
Starting May 2025, Altman’s crypto project Worldcoin (WLD) was made available in most of the US for the first time ever. Its US debut will see it listed on Coinbase, the most popular crypto exchange in America.
Like its launch in Asia and other territories, participants who scan their eyes at a World Orb location will receive 16 WLD. It remains to be seen how popular the project will be in the US compared to other countries.
Aside from those earning WLD for scanning their eyes via the World Orb tech, the Worldcoin team is giving out ‘pioneer grants’ to users who have downloaded and registered with the World app. The grant comes with 150 WLD dropped directly into their wallet, which is worth around $155 at current prices.
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Key Takeaways
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World’s headline feature is deep payments integration inside chat, effectively turning World Chat into a crypto‑native Venmo.
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Gemini’s entry intensifies competition in a sector already heating up under the Trump administration’s pro-crypto stance.
The post Sam Altman’s World App Evolves: Adds In-Stream Crypto Payments And More appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
