Worldcoin Rival Humanity Project Raises $30 Million: Crypto “Unicorn” Could Face Same Privacy Pitfalls as WLD

• Humanity Protocol raised $30m, reaching a $1b valuation.
• The project emphasizes privacy in an attempt to avoid the issues faced by Worldcoin.
• Humanity Project uses palm scans for identity verification, contrasting with Worldcoin’s use of iris scans.

Worldcoin rival and decentralized identity solution platform, Humanity Protocol, has achieved unicorn status. It is valued at $1b after raising $30m in a seed round. 

There is a growing interest in decentralized identity solutions, but they face privacy concerns. These concerns have plagued Worldcoin since its 2023 launch. Humanity Protocol must address the privacy challenges to avoid similar pitfalls.

Humanity Protocol’s Unicorn Status 

Decentralized identity solution Humanity Protocol is now a unicorn after a $30m funding. The raise lifted  its valuation to $1b. The seed round was led by Kingsway Capital. Other participants included Animoca Brands, Blockchain.com, Hashed, Shima Capital, and 20 other industry-based investors.

According to the platform’s Medium post, Humanity Protocol is a zero-knowledge (ZK) decentralized identity project. It notes that the funds will accelerate hiring and product development ahead of their public testnet launch in H2 2024. 

The platform boosts of Proof of Humanity (PoH) consensus mechanism that could ensure the uniqueness of users’ identities within a decentralized system. 

They claim to maintain the integrity of both online and offline environments by mitigating the risk of identity fraud and Sybil attacks. PoH also promises to perform transactions that can establish ownership of real-world assets, access restricted services, or prove education and employment history without disclosing personal information to third parties. 

The selling point of the protocol is making Universal Basic Income more equitable. As per the post, the project has around half a million waitlist sign-ups in a month.

Terence Kwok, Founder of Humanity Protocol, emphasized the need for a self-sovereign identity framework built on inclusivity, privacy, and decentralization. He stated, “Proof-of-Personhood is a powerful concept, but the solutions that exist today haven’t seen adoption because onboarding is invasive and high friction.”

Rival to Worldcoin

Worldcoin officially launched in July 2023. Since then, administrations and regulators have been scrutinizing its operations. The crypto project, co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, claimed that its ID system will integrate with artificial intelligence. 

In April 2024, the Worldcoin Foundation announced  the launch of World Chain. With the launch expected later in the year, the open-source Ethereum layer 2 chain is set to be permissionless. 

Since Worldcoin requires biometric data for its applications, concerns remain amid increasing data breaches and cyber-attacks. Now in May 15, 2024, the Worldcoin Foundation announced the  open-sourcing of its secure multi-party computation (SMPC) system.

Applied research from the Worldcoin Foundation with a team of cryptography engineers moved away from Worldcoin’s previous iris code system. 

The updated system enables iris codes to be individually encrypted into multiple secret shares held by multiple parties. The parties can compute results over the secret information without deciphering the secret itself. It also claims to have removed old iris codes. 

Removing Privacy Concerns

Humanity Protocol and Worldcoinboth create decentralized identity solutions, but they differ in their approach to biometric data and privacy. Humanity Protocol uses palm scans, while Worldcoin initially used iris scans before shifting from them due to privacy concerns.

Humanity Protocol positions itself as more privacy-focused, addressing issues that have raised concerns for Worldcoin. Despite these efforts, the Humanity Protocol must still navigate the same privacy pitfalls that Worldcoin faced, ensuring that users’ data is protected and used responsibly.

The Humanity project’s recent $30m funding round and unicorn status have made it a major player in the decentralized identity solutions space. However, as it aims to rival Worldcoin, it must address similar privacy concerns to avoid the pitfalls experienced by its competitors.

About the Author

Shraddha Sharma

Shraddha has around five years of experience as a financial journalist, focusing largely on the Asian markets. Starting her career in Mumbai, India, as a news trainee and producer, she quickly found her niche in crypto. She is keen on learning how emerging technologies affect the broader markets and enjoys explaining complex financial ideas in a way that's easy to understand.

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