World (formerly Worldcoin) Expands into the US with New Features

Sam Altman's crypto-linked human identity project, World (formerly known as Worldcoin), has expanded its operations into the United States with the addition of new features that combine payment capabilities with digital identity verification.

The initiative, previously focused on an international rollout, is now available in six major U.S. cities: Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, and San Francisco. Each city will serve as a hub for rolling out the project's unique crypto-economic model and grant users the opportunity to mint a World ID, receiving WLD tokens in return.

World is an initiative developed by Tools for Humanity and co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman alongside CEO Alex Blania. The project aims to build a "crypto-economic contribution to a healthier and more interesting world" with a focus on digital identity and universal basic income.

The project's U.S. launch comes at a time when the Trump administration has adopted policies that are more welcoming to crypto-related businesses, which could help the project gain traction in the American market.

As part of its U.S. rollout, World announced plans to release a Visa card later this year. The card will allow users to spend their WLD tokens and other cryptocurrencies at any merchant that accepts Visa payments.

The card will connect directly to users' World App wallets, creating a seamless experience for crypto holders who want to use their digital assets for daily purchases.

"We're thrilled to be partnering with Visa to enable direct spending of crypto at any merchant that accepts Visa,” said Blania. “This integration will provide a seamless and valuable experience for our users."

According to the project team, the integration will enable crypto spending without requiring merchants to handle digital assets. Transactions will automatically convert to fiat currency at the point of sale, removing barriers for traditional retailers.

World is also forming strategic partnerships to expand its use cases. One notable collaboration is with Match Group, the company behind popular dating platforms like Tinder, Hinge, and Match.com. Together, they will launch a pilot program on Tinder in Japan to verify human users.

This partnership aims to mitigate the issue of fake profiles, a common concern in online dating spaces, by verifying that users on dating platforms are real individuals.

Furthermore, World has integrated with the Kalshi prediction marketplace through a new Mini App within the World App. This integration allows users to participate in forecasting events based on verified human identities.

World continues to operate specialized biometric devices called Orbs, designed to confirm a user's humanity through iris scanning technology. The company maintains that it does not store any users' biometric data, using the information solely for the purpose of verifying personhood.

Plans are underway to create a smaller "mini-Orb" device that would enable faster onboarding as the company works toward its goal of reaching 1 billion users.

In a recent development, World announced plans to integrate Circle's USDC stablecoin and Cross Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) V2 on the World Chain network. This move aims to enhance global transfers across the platform.

Currently, users can access bridged USDC on the network. However, an upcoming upgrade will enable the direct issuance of USDC, rendering the integration of the stablecoin even deeper. Upon implementation, all existing bridged USDC on World Chain will be converted to native USDC.

According to the company, this will provide users with coins that are fully backed by highly liquid cash and cash-equivalent assets.

Moreover, the CCTP V2 upgrade is set to render cross-chain transfers more seamless and cost-effective.

World's user base now exceeds 26 million World App users, with approximately 12 million confirmed as "unique humans." The project continues to expand its utility in digital identity, payments, and Web3 user verification.

The WLD token, which powers the World ecosystem, is showing positive market movement. At the time of reporting, WLD was trading at $1.04, showing a weekly increase of 12%. The token showed a small 0.25% gain in the most recent trading session.

According to data from MyTokenInfo, the token's price is up 108% over the past 90 days.

As for the technical analysis, the token's Simple Moving Average (SMA) trend over the last 100 days is showing a strong buy signal, while the SMA trend over the last 50 days is indicating a buy signal.

Plus, the token's Relative Strength Index (RSI) is in oversold territory with a reading of 30.65.

World's US expansion, new payment features, and strategic partnerships appear to be fueling positive sentiment among investors about the project and its native token.