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I think the point is "Proof of Personhood/Humanity/Individual". There is a huge problem in the cryptocurrency space where you don't know if 10 accounts belong

by diggan 3y ago

I think the point is "Proof of Personhood/Humanity/Individual". There is a huge problem in the cryptocurrency space where you don't know if 10 accounts belong to 10 individuals, or one individual. So a bunch of projects are trying to figure out a solution to this, to prevent sybil attacks. Gitcoin Passport is one of those solutions, where you can connect various accounts to a "Passport", which you can then hand over to services who can see you have a certain score, but not exactly what that Passport is connected to, so you still preserve your privacy. I think Worldcoin is another attempt at this, with the idea that the iris scans they do are unique in the world. So basically like a normal cryptocurrency wallet, except these ones also have a ID/hash or something that indicates their "iris value" or something. Then Worldcoin can guarantee/prove that one individual only has one wallet. At least that's my understand of it, happy to be corrected. (Guess I should add that I personally don't use or support Worldcoin at all, but I have read about it a couple of times at this point)

AndrewStephens 3y ago
That is my superficial understanding as well but if we are both correct, what is the point? One of the only (dubious) advantages of crypto is that nothing ties a wallet to a person, or a wallet to another wallet unless they interact. How is WorldCoin better than just having a bank account that you have to go into a bank in person to set up?
- diggan 3y ago
  > That is my superficial understanding as well but if we are both correct, what is the point? The point is that application developers can limit access to their $whatever by real humans, and force uniqueness. > One of the only (dubious) advantages of crypto is that nothing ties a wallet to a person, or a wallet to another wallet unless they interact. How is WorldCoin better than just having a bank account that you have to go into a bank in person to set up? This seems to be generally about cryptocurrencies at large, doesn't seem specific to Worldcoin as far as I understand. I think the assumption is that "Someone wants to use a cryptocurrency and someone built a platform, now the builder wants to make sure the user is unique", and without that, then there isn't really anything to discuss.
- gs17 3y ago
  > How is WorldCoin better than just having a bank account that you have to go into a bank in person to set up? I think the idea is both about being able to use it for ID (specifically, ID that you are a unique human being), while also making it accessible in places where there's large "unbanked" populations. If it was BankAccountCoin, there would be over a billion people left out. I'm not a fan of it, and I don't think it will ever work as well at this as it will at making Sam a bit more cash, but the concept isn't entirely flawed.
- tim333 3y ago
  It's anonymous. You don't have to give a name or address or anything.
shkkmo 3y ago
> Then Worldcoin can guarantee/prove that one individual only has one wallet. Which only works if you have somehow created a completely secure method proving the provenance of iris scan data. Given the intent is to lock a bunch of money behind this, I highly doubt that this is remotely possible. If worldcoin has real value, someone will find a way to obtain and replay iris scans to make money. Biometrics is simply not a good security mechanism.

by diggan 3y ago

AndrewStephens 3y ago

That is my superficial understanding as well but if we are both correct, what is the point? One of the only (dubious) advantages of crypto is that nothing ties a wallet to a person, or a wallet to another wallet unless they interact. How is WorldCoin better than just having a bank account that you have to go into a bank in person to set up?

diggan 3y ago
> That is my superficial understanding as well but if we are both correct, what is the point? The point is that application developers can limit access to their $whatever by real humans, and force uniqueness. > One of the only (dubious) advantages of crypto is that nothing ties a wallet to a person, or a wallet to another wallet unless they interact. How is WorldCoin better than just having a bank account that you have to go into a bank in person to set up? This seems to be generally about cryptocurrencies at large, doesn't seem specific to Worldcoin as far as I understand. I think the assumption is that "Someone wants to use a cryptocurrency and someone built a platform, now the builder wants to make sure the user is unique", and without that, then there isn't really anything to discuss.
gs17 3y ago
> How is WorldCoin better than just having a bank account that you have to go into a bank in person to set up? I think the idea is both about being able to use it for ID (specifically, ID that you are a unique human being), while also making it accessible in places where there's large "unbanked" populations. If it was BankAccountCoin, there would be over a billion people left out. I'm not a fan of it, and I don't think it will ever work as well at this as it will at making Sam a bit more cash, but the concept isn't entirely flawed.
tim333 3y ago
It's anonymous. You don't have to give a name or address or anything.

shkkmo 3y ago

> Then Worldcoin can guarantee/prove that one individual only has one wallet. Which only works if you have somehow created a completely secure method proving the provenance of iris scan data. Given the intent is to lock a bunch of money behind this, I highly doubt that this is remotely possible. If worldcoin has real value, someone will find a way to obtain and replay iris scans to make money. Biometrics is simply not a good security mechanism.