Worldcoin Competitor, Humanity Protocol Valued at $1 Billion After Successful Seed Funding Round

Humanity Protocol, a decentralized identity solution based on blockchain technology, has achieved unicorn status following a successful seed funding round, elevating its valuation to $1 billion.

The project raised $30 million in the funding round, and according to its announcement, the raised funds will be used to fuel the expansion of its product development unit as it prepares for the public testnet launch scheduled for the second half of 2024.

Terence Kwok launched the Humanity Protocol through the Human Institute in February 2023, with support from Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu and Polygon Labs. Notably, the protocol has been actively engaged in testnet development since earlier this year.

Since its public reveal just a month ago, Humanity Protocol has attracted over half a million users to its waitlist.

The project distinguishes itself by employing palm scanning technology to secure users’ digital identities on the blockchain, incorporating zero-knowledge technology and a “proof-of-humanity” consensus mechanism to verify human users over AI bots.

“By pioneering a Proof of Humanity consensus mechanism alongside a minimally invasive palm scanning app, Humanity Protocol strives to establish Self-Sovereign Identity on their zkEVM blockchain”,

the project’s announcement read.

Humanity Protocol’s approach contrasts with Worldcoin, another blockchain-based identity project which has attracted more than 10 million users since its launch. However, Worldcoin, whose approach involves users scanning their iris, has faced bans in several countries due to privacy concerns.

According to Kwok, the protocol addresses the problems of “invasive and high-friction” onboarding processes of current solutions trying to establish a truly digitally verifiable identity. In his words: “We’re creating a decentralized identity protocol that solves verifiable uniqueness and humanity in a way that protects user privacy and self-ownership of data.”

Kingsway Capital led the seed funding round, and other industry stakeholders and investors, including Animoca Brands and Blockchain.com, participated. Manuel Stotz, the Founder of Kingsway Capital, noted that their participation is not

“merely an investment in technology, but a commitment to breaking down the barriers blocking financial and broader digital inclusion in particular for the world’s bottom billions.”