World, the biometric ID verification project co-founded by Sam Altman, just rolled out the newest version of its mobile app with a clear goal: make “proof of human” more useful in everyday life, not just a one-time verification step. The update introduces two headline additions—an encrypted messaging feature called World Chat and a bigger, more Venmo-like set of tools for sending, receiving, and managing cryptocurrency.
Launched by Tools for Humanity in 2019 and introduced publicly through its app in 2023, World positions itself as a response to a fast-changing internet where AI-generated content, impersonation, and automated bots are increasingly hard to spot. The company’s broader mission is to help people prove they’re real humans online while still protecting privacy, a balance that’s notoriously difficult to achieve at scale.
At a small event at the company’s San Francisco headquarters, Altman and World co-founder and CEO Alex Blania briefly framed the update as part of a bigger vision: building a new kind of economic and identity model designed for the web3 era. Altman emphasized the core technical challenge—verifying that someone is a unique person without compromising their privacy.
World Chat aims to bring that idea into everyday conversations. The messenger uses end-to-end encryption designed to keep chats private, and it adds a simple visual cue to help users understand who they’re talking to. Color-coded chat bubbles reportedly indicate whether the other person has been verified through World’s system, giving users a quick way to judge authenticity and encouraging more people to complete verification. World Chat first appeared in beta earlier this year, and now it’s being presented as a major pillar of the updated app experience.
The other major upgrade centers on payments and crypto transfers. While the World app has already functioned as a digital wallet, the new version expands what users can do with it. People can now send and request cryptocurrency more easily, and the app adds support for virtual bank accounts that can accept direct deposits like paychecks. Users can also deposit money from their bank accounts and convert those funds into crypto. Notably, users don’t need to complete World’s biometric verification to access these wallet and banking-style features.
World’s identity system remains one of the most distinctive—and debated—parts of the project. To get verified, a participant’s iris is scanned using the Orb, a dedicated device that turns the scan into a unique encrypted code. That code becomes a verified World ID, which can then be used within World’s ecosystem through the app.
The push toward messaging and more social functionality appears designed to increase daily engagement and drive adoption—an important move for a project whose biggest hurdle is scale. Altman has previously spoken about the ambition of reaching a billion verifications, yet the company says it has verified fewer than 20 million people so far.
To reduce friction, Tools for Humanity has been working to make verification easier to access than waiting in long lines for an Orb scan. The company recently announced Orb Minis, smaller handheld devices intended to allow people to scan their eyes themselves at home. Over time, the company has also suggested Orb Minis could evolve into mobile point-of-sale tools, or that its identity sensor technology could be integrated by device makers. If either path becomes reality, it could significantly lower the barrier to verification and make “proof of human” feel less like an event—and more like a standard digital capability built into everyday apps.
With encrypted messaging, expanded crypto payments, and a continued push to streamline biometric verification, World is clearly betting that identity, privacy, and practical utility need to live in the same place if it wants mainstream adoption in an internet increasingly shaped by AI.
