Overview
- World Chat launches with end‑to‑end encryption, blue bubbles for verified users, gray for unverified, and on‑device photo checks against Orb images, with the company saying it stores no messaging metadata.
- Payments now work inside chats, while virtual accounts reach about 18 countries including the U.S., Japan, Korea and Singapore, letting users receive salaries or bank transfers that convert to USDC with fee‑free conversion on World’s side.
- The wallet supports swaps and transfers across more than 100 assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDC, EURC, WLD and a tokenized gold product.
- A new Earn feature offers higher‑yield rewards on an initial portion of balances for verified humans under anti‑sybil rules, and some payment and virtual account tools are available without completing biometric verification.
- Real‑world utility expands with QR payments at over one million merchants in Argentina and a World Card slated for early next year with Apple Pay support, as total verifications remain under roughly 20 million and the company promotes Orb Minis to grow adoption.