World App announces major upgrade: new encrypted chat, virtual accounts, and support for over 100 cryptocurrencies for payments

World announces a major upgrade to its application, with the new version introducing encrypted chat, virtual accounts, and support for over 100 assets in encrypted payment functions, officially moving toward a “super app” that integrates identity verification and global payments. Led by Sam Altman, the core goal of the project is to provide users with reliable human identity verification tools in an era of rapid AI technological development.

According to an official announcement, this upgrade enables users to send, recharge, and withdraw cryptocurrencies within the World wallet and virtual accounts, experiencing a convenient payment process similar to Venmo. The new app supports USDC, EURC, wrapped Bitcoin, Ethereum, and over 100 other cryptocurrencies, covering a broader crypto asset ecosystem.

The upgrade launch event was held at World’s headquarters in San Francisco, where Sam Altman and co-founder and CEO Alex Blania jointly introduced this enhanced functionality. The team emphasized that the new version of the app integrates identity verification, financial operations, and core communication, creating the first encrypted identity-driven mobile payment tool.

The newly launched encrypted chat feature supports end-to-end encryption, differentiating verified and unverified users with blue and gray bubbles to ensure communication security and privacy. Users’ profile photos are compared with Orb data stored on their devices to further verify identity authenticity.

In addition to the chat feature, the new version of the app introduced a virtual account system. Users can now receive salaries and deposit funds into bank accounts directly within the World App, and convert them into cryptocurrencies for use. The platform also opened exchanges and trading of the native token of World Chain and tokenized real-world assets such as gold, providing users with more asset options.

Since its launch in 2023, World has continuously strengthened its identity verification capabilities. The iris scanning project launched in May can generate a unique IrisCode by capturing facial and iris data in 30 seconds, used for on-chain identity recognition. With this upgrade, World further improves its ecosystem and promotes the adoption of cryptocurrencies in everyday scenarios.