The Worldcoin Foundation, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to advancing the Worldcoin protocol, revealed the details of its $5 million “Wave0” community grants programme on Wednesday.
A draught press release states that the grants are intended to provide developers on Worldcoin with a “focus on building resilient technology and more equitable systems.” The Worldcoin protocol is an Ethereum-based network, and the foundation plans to fund $5 million in three distinct grant tracks using WLD token, the native token of the Worldcoin protocol.
In a recent interview, Worldcoin Foundation head of protocol Remco Bloemen stated that the grants are intended for more than just developers, adding that “there’s a larger community effort here to be made, which is also like raising awareness, educating people of the importance” of the problems that the technology seeks to address with regard to “income inequality, governance and other existential risks.”
According to Bloemen, the grants will go to projects that examine research and development initiatives, like the nexus between biometrics and privacy. Those that develop use cases that make use of Worldcoin and World ID may be eligible for additional grants.
This information is related to Sam Altman, who was fired and then hired back as CEO of Tools for Humanity, the main development company behind Worldcoin. Altman got into a messy legal dispute with OpenAI.
Worldcoin’s primary developer, Tools for Humanity, CEO Alex Blania, told CoinDesk in an interview that despite OpenAI’s goal, the project is still dedicated to decentralisation. Project officials had previously stated that the changes in OpenAI’s governance had no bearing on Altman’s position at Worldcoin.
“In five years, neither Sam or me will matter at all for what happens to Worldcoin. It’s a process and that’s kind of how we think about it,” Blania said. “It’s fundamentally very different from OpenAI.”