Humanity Protocol raises $20m to challenge Sam Altman’s Worldcoin

Humanity Protocol, a rival to the Sam Altman-backed task Worldcoin, announced connected Monday that it raised $20 cardinal arsenic investors progressively look to marque bets connected buzzy integer individuality providers.

Like Worldcoin, which precocious shortened its sanction to World, Humanity Protocol uses biometrics to make unsocial identities for its users, which are stored connected its blockchain.

The thought is to verify users’ identities without creating a susceptible centralised constituent of control. This, Humanity Protocol laminitis Terence Kwok told DL News, is vitally important arsenic exertion progressively blurs the lines betwixt humans and artificial intelligence.

Just 2 years aft launching, Humanity Protocol has created two million idiosyncratic IDs.

That’s a batch little than World’s 10 cardinal users. And Humanity Protocol’s $1.1 cardinal valuation is little than fractional six-year-old World’s $3 billion.

Yet Kwok, who’s based successful Hong Kong, is nary alien to raising large sums for ambitious projects.

In 2012 helium founded Tink Labs, raising $200 cardinal from inventors including Japan’s SoftBank for a concern that supplied smartphones to hotels.

By 2019, that concern had collapsed, vaporising capitalist capital.

That information hasn’t enactment disconnected Humanity Protocol investors, who person present contributed a combined $50 cardinal to the venture.

Crypto investing heavyweights Pantera Capital and Jump Crypto led the latest round. It follows a $30 cardinal effect circular led by Kingsway Capital past May.

“We are excited astir each the ways that blockchain enables a aboriginal AI-driven world, and Humanity Protocol is starring the way,” Cosmo Jiang, General Partner astatine Pantera Capital, said of the raise.

Biometric ‘ick factor’

Both World and Humanity Protocol usage biometrics to verify users are human, and to make their unsocial onchain identities.

But biometrics aren’t well-liked by the nationalist oregon governments. Critics person called World’s iris scanning orbs dystopian, portion regulators successful Spain, Portugal, and different jurisdictions person accused the task of signing up minors without parental consent and mishandling users’ data.

Even World co-founder Sam Altman has acknowledged the orbs person a “clear ick factor” astir them. Executives astatine World person vowed to code these issues. Now it’s facing contention that is trying to marque biometrics much palatable to the public.

Instead of scanning eyeballs, Humanity Protocol has opted for scanning the veins successful users’ palms, which, similar quality irises, are unsocial to each person.

“It conscionable seems mode little intrusive and dystopian than scanning somebody’s eyeball,” Kwok told DL News.

Because thenar scanning is little intrusive, Kwok said, it opens up much opportunities for its use, specified arsenic for payments oregon entree power for buildings.

Even if Humanity Protocol follows each the rules successful however it collects and handles users’ data, it whitethorn not beryllium enough.

In May, Hong Kong authorities argued that due to the fact that those operating World’s iris scanners were already successful a presumption to verify the humanness of volunteers, the images World collects of people’s faces and irises are “unnecessary and excessive,” and violated the city’s information extortion principles.

Kwok’s erstwhile failure

Humanity Protocol is simply a large alteration from Kwok’s erstwhile startup.

Tink Labs, which was erstwhile 1 of Hong Kong’s best-funded start-ups, planted itself successful the hospitality industry.

It supplied net connected smartphones to hotels worldwide, including Shangri-La Hotels, InterContinental Hotel Group and Hyatt Hotels, among others.

The transportation was simple: The devices were intended to amended the impermanent experience, little operational costs, merchantability other services, and stitchery information connected lawsuit preferences.

But conscionable 3 years aft raising $200 cardinal from investors successful 2016, Tink Labs collapsed.

Kwok said helium blames the nonaccomplishment connected a operation of increasing excessively accelerated and planetary Covid-19 lockdowns that poleaxed the hospitality manufacture worldwide.

Former employees told The Financial Times astatine the clip that the problems astatine the steadfast started good earlier Covid. The steadfast tripled its losses successful 2017, the past twelvemonth accounts were made publically available.

“Listen to your investors for advice, but not each of their advice,” Kwok said erstwhile asked what lessons helium had learned from his clip moving Tink Labs.

He besides said that astatine Humanity Protocol, helium was focusing connected putting unneurotic a leaner squad with a much specialised accomplishment acceptable and emphasising increasing astatine the close pace.

Rapid Growth

Kwok said Humanity Protocol was taking its clip investigating the devices it uses to scam palms, and doesn’t expect a afloat standard rollout for different mates of months.

Kwok said the maturation had been “largely organic” but acknowledged immoderate users were signing up successful the hopes of receiving invaluable tokens successful the future.

“People expect that there’s immoderate benignant of airdrop rewards oregon thing down the road, right? I deliberation that that’s the brutally honorable answer,” helium said.

Rival World offers WLD tokens to each unpaid who signs up to the task and has their irises scanned. Despite a slew of controversies and ineligible issues, World has truthful acold attracted much than 10 cardinal users done this approach.

Humanity Protocol is hoping to debar the mistakes World made arsenic it begins rolling retired its thenar scanners implicit the coming months.

“Sometimes it’s bully to beryllium the 2nd feline coming connected board,” Kwok said. “You decidedly learn.”

Tim Craig is DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach retired with tips astatine [email protected].