Happy Tuesday! We’re here once again to cover the latest news in the cryptocurrency industry. This week, we’re looking at a new decentralized ID project that’s raised over $100 million in funding, Ledger responding to public criticism of its latest announcement, and a potential new use for that old, dusty Game Boy that’s been on your shelf for the past 20 years. Enjoy this week’s stories!
Decentralized ID Project Worldcoin Raises $115M in Funding
Worldcoin, a digital identity and crypto project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, recently raised $115M in a Series C funding round. The project, founded in 2019, aims to develop a system of digital identity to prove personhood in an age of rapidly developing artificial intelligence. Worldcoin previously launched a wallet app that allows users to verify their humanity through iris scans, own proof of their digital identity, and hold crypto. Digital ID verification is done through zero-knowledge proofs, which keeps personal information private, and Worldcoin has said that it does not share user information. The project isn’t available in all countries (notably the US), but is slowly gaining users, adding to the current user base of nearly two million worldwide. Could this possibly be a replacement for the dreaded reCAPTCHA?
Ledger Delays Private Key Recovery Service Release
Hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger has decided to delay the release of its controversial Ledger Recover service due to the backlash it received upon its announcement last week. Ledger Chief Technology Officer Charles Guillemet took to Twitter to address the pushback and announce that Ledger would be accelerating its open-source roadmap for the Recover protocol so that the public can look at it for themselves and increase transparency. The feature, which aims to allow users to back up their private keys by storing fragments in 3 places, was met with much skepticism as Ledger owners felt their private keys could be in danger, even if they didn’t take part in the optional update. Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier said on Twitter that “we understand the community’s direction and apologize for the miscommunication”. Hopefully Ledger can regain the crypto community’s trust, as they’re one of the largest hardware wallet makers in the world.
Keyp’s Game Wallet Can Turn Your Old Game Boy Into a Cold Wallet
A new product from crypto startup Keyp called the Game Wallet allows users to turn their old Game Boys into a cold storage wallet by using a game cartridge. However, that’s not all the game cartridge can do – it’s also a Pokemon-like playable game where the user can complete quests for in-game characters to generate seed phrases. In light of Ledger’s latest controversy with the Ledger Recover update, Keyp’s co-founder Sascha Mombartz said, “we realized the need for truly offline cold storage that minimizes trust”. Since Game Boys are offline devices, there’s virtually no danger of a compromise through online means. If you have an old Game Boy laying around, this might be a good use for it!
