The No Bot Shop: proof of human in action
Picture this: You're online at midnight, credit card ready, refreshing frantically for those limited-edition sneakers. The page loads, you click "add to cart" and... they're gone. In 0.3 seconds. To a bot. And they are already listed on a resale site for 5x retail.
Sound familiar? You're not alone. Bots have been beating humans to the checkout line for years —scooping up the hottest sneakers, sold-out concert tickets and in demand gaming consoles before real fans even get a chance.
This September, World decided to flip the script entirely.
Welcome to the No Bot Shop
For one day only in Los Angeles, World created something unprecedented: a retail experience where proof of human was the only currency that mattered. No bots allowed. Just real humans getting first dibs on the drops, tickets and experiences that usually vanish before we can blink.
Visitors who verified their humanness via an Orb—a privacy-preserving, advanced camera—unlocked access to a prize wheel stocked with hard-to-get items. We're talking concert tickets, limited sneaker releases, rare collectibles, exclusive dining reservations and those coveted collectibles that usually sell out in seconds.
Everyone who verified their humanness left with something. This wasn't about who had the fastest internet connection or the most sophisticated bot. It was about showing up as a human being.
Why proof of human matters more than ever
At a time when AI can generate perfect product reviews, create synthetic social media profiles and deploy armies of checkout bots, proving you're human is becoming essential for fair commerce.
Consider what happens today:
- Concert tickets sell out in seconds to bots, reappearing at 10x face value
- Limited product drops become inaccessible to genuine fans
- Small businesses struggle to serve real customers while fighting bot attacks
- The e-commerce ecosystem tilts toward automated exploitation
World's proof of human technology offers a different path. By creating a way to verify humanness without compromising privacy, it enables experiences where real people come first. The No Bot Shop was a physical demonstration of this digital future.
The future is human-verified
The No Bot Shop was a proof of concept. World has already run online "human only" experiences through Shopify integrations, and with over 15 million verified humans globally, the infrastructure for bot-free commerce is actively growing.
Imagine a world where:
- Concert tickets and product drops go to actual fans
- Online shopping feels fair
- Digital commerce serves humans
The one-day No Bot Shop event proved that the internet can work for people again. In a world increasingly dominated by AI and automation, the No Bot Shop offered something radical: a future where being human is the ultimate access pass.
Download World App to find a proof of human location near you.
Learn More
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You can also join the daily conversation on all World social media channels, or get additional important information concerning the project by reading the World protocol whitepaper.