protos.com
After falling short of its target to onboard one billion people by 2023 using its dystopian eyeball-scanning orbs, Sam Altman’s Worldcoin has turned to a little-known energy drink to grow its user base.
The controversial project, which recently underwent an ‘Apple-style’ makeover to improve its image, has now partnered with Flojo, “the world’s first sparkling beverage formulated and approved by neuroscientists.”
The partnership offers $15 off crates of the peach or mango-flavored concoction for every user who registers with their World ID. “It pays to be a unique human,” Worldcoin says.
Flojo appears to be trying to make inroads into the crypto market as it’s also partnered with Solana. The drink’s co-founder Christine Wong explained the move, saying that crypto players “don’t have a representative drink yet.”
Flojo co-founder, Singapore-based Paul Tan, is also the founder of crypto seed investment fund DAOvergence, and works in various crypto firms. Messari and Cryptorank both list Tan as a contributor to a $5 million seed round raised by a failed NFT marketplace, DoingGud.
Worldcoin’s drink partner big on marketing mumbo jumbo
The drink is a lot. It claims to be Asia’s first “productivity” drink that enhances mental clarity with “adaptogens” and “nootropics” carefully selected by neuroscientists.
For the layman, adaptogens are apparently natural substances that help regulate your body — but there’s no one definition for it. Nootropics are supposedly substances that improve cognitive function and have been called ‘smart drugs.’
A research paper published by Frontiers of Pharmacology described adaptogens as having “little scientific value.” It said it is “not accepted in clinical and pharmacological terminologies in the European Union and has been considered not appropriate for marketing authorization.”
Various publishers have also debated the effectiveness of nootropics. One GQ article concluded that you’re probably better off going for a walk.
Isn’t this about Worldcoin?
Worldcoin claims to have onboarded 6.4 million eyeballs since its creation, ‘just’ 993.6 million World ID verifications away from its 2023 goal.
Read more: How Humanity Protocol CEO drove his previous firm to insolvency
The company has updated its homepage and eyeball scanner counter from 2,000 to 3,480 as a sign of some expansion but says it’s still facing global backlash from international states.
Adding to Worldoin’s woes, there’s also a new crypto-powered identity system on the block: Humanity Protocol. This new venture more or less strives to achieve what Worldcoin is doing while using palm scanning technology instead. However, its CEO Terence Kwok, doesn’t have the best track record with keeping firms afloat.