Introducing World ID Fees

The World Foundation is extending the World ID protocol to introduce World ID fees, payable in WLD. Usage will remain free for end users while applications will be charged for using World ID services. Each credential issuer will be able to set and retain their own credential fee, while a separate protocol fee will flow back to the protocol itself.

World is building the real human network so every human can benefit in the age of AI. Today, 26M individuals have already joined World Network and 12.3M people have an Orb-verified World ID. The network of verified individuals is growing rapidly, with more than 1500 Orbs currently live in the field to verify unique humanness across 23 countries.

World ID is a protocol enabling a global, privacy-preserving identity network. At its core is the proof of human credential provided by the Orb. Additionally, the future World ID protocol will enable any entity (e.g., enterprises or governmental institutions) to create a new World ID Credential (e.g., a credit report or a university certificate), which individuals can attach to their World ID.

World ID enables individuals to share things about themselves without revealing their real identity. For example, Orb-verified individuals can prove to an application (aka a relying party) “I am a unique human,” while individuals who have added a passport credential can prove “I am over 18” or “I am a US citizen.” Credentials can also be combined to make composite proofs, for example “I am a unique human who is over 18,” without revealing any other information.

Due to rapid advancements in AI's ability to convincingly imitate humans, experts agree that some form of proof of human will become essential infrastructure for most tech platforms. For example, Microsoft President Brad Smith identified deepfakes as his biggest AI-related concern, calling for new safeguards to distinguish real vs. fake content. A joint report by the NSA, FBI, and CISA warned that synthetic media threats like deepfakes have “exponentially increased,” presenting a growing challenge for current security systems.​ Similarly, Gartner analysts predict that by 2028, one in four job applicants will be synthetic personas leveraging deepfake technology for videos, voice interactions, and credentials, undermining traditional fraud detection methods like video interviews. 

Given this, more and more industries are realizing the need for reliable proof of human. For example, social media and messaging apps face a major problem with bots. In banking and finance, deepfake scams are on the rise, making fraud detection and financial compliance increasingly difficult. The gaming and entertainment sector is struggling with age controls and AI impersonation.  Even higher education and governmental services face significant financial losses from AI-enabled fraud. Finally, AI Agents may soon require a technology like World ID for humans to delegate authority to agents.

Applications seeking reliable proof of human can integrate World ID today, with many having already done so or currently in the process. For example:

• Razer, a leader in eSports tournaments, has integrated World ID to verify real human players. In multiplayer games like TokyoBEAST, World ID will help ensure that humans are competing against humans — not against AI. 
• Match Group, the world’s pioneer in online dating, is piloting World ID in their dating platforms (e.g., Tinder, Hinge, and Plenty of Fish). World ID will help users increase trust in their online interactions, knowing that behind their interactions is a real human, and enable seamless age controls.
• Merchants on Shopify, one of the world's largest eCommerce platforms, are integrating World ID into their online stores. This integration allows them to run bot-proof promotions, offer limited product drops exclusive to verified humans, enhance fraud detection, and create a more trusted and secure shopping experience.
• Hakuhodo, Japan’s second-largest marketing agency, plans to use World ID to build a fraud-proof ad network so that it can affordably reach more unique humans—not paid “click farmers”.

Before explaining the economic mechanisms underpinning the World ID protocol, it is useful to clarify its ownership and governance structure. The World Foundation is the steward of the World project, supporting and growing the community until the project becomes self-sufficient. The Foundation owns the IP for the World ID protocol, the Orb, and World Chain. The World Foundation also governs the 75% of all Worldcoin (WLD) tokens that have been allocated to the World Community. The Foundation is allocating these tokens towards three purposes: (a) user tokens, (b) network operations, and (c) ecosystem building (for details, see this blog post).

The World project is supported by a growing ecosystem of service providers. Tools for Humanity, the initial development company of the project, is currently the largest service provider, and it holds the IP for World App – the first wallet app on World Network.

As part of its mission, the World Foundation aims to progressively decentralize the ecosystem and make the project self-sufficient. In the context of the World ID protocol, this has two primary components:

• Incentives for credential issuers: Enable credential issuers to generate sufficient revenue such that they are incentivized to issue and maintain their credentials.
• Protocol sustainability: Generate sufficient revenue to make the protocol sustainable. 

To this end, the Foundation will soon introduce World ID fees.

World ID fees will be charged to applications, while protocol usage remains free for end users.

The value of World ID is realized when applications integrate it to either enhance their existing services or enable entirely new services—potentially even spawning new business models previously impossible to implement. A notable example for the latter is the Aqua mini app, which leverages World ID to measure online engagement exclusively from verified humans, ensuring content creators are compensated based on genuine user interaction rather than bot activity. It is therefore natural for the protocol to charge applications for consuming World ID services. Applications are accustomed to paying for the components they integrate and can be expected to recognize the value World ID brings to their offerings. This approach ensures that a portion of the value created for applications flows back to the credential issuers and the protocol. 

The World Foundation is currently designing the protocol changes necessary for charging World ID fees to applications. Full details of these technical changes can be expected for public review by Q3 2025.

World ID fees will consist of two components:

1. Credential fee: Each credential issuer (e.g., the World Foundation for the Orb credential, enterprises or governmental institutions for their credentials) will be able to set a fee for their credential, and they will receive the corresponding fee revenue. This ensures that credential issuers have an incentive to create and maintain their credentials.
2. Protocol fee: The protocol will set a base fee and additionally charge a small premium on top of the credential fee. This will ensure that enough revenue is generated to make the protocol self-sufficient.

From an application’s perspective, there will only be one World ID fee – the sum of the credential fee and the protocol fee. The World ID fee will be charged when an application (identified via a unique app id) requests a World ID proof.

Fee payment will be enforced at the protocol level. This is one of the features enabled by the private state blockchain employed by the future World ID architecture (see here for a technical background on the underlying cryptography used). Informally speaking, a private state blockchain can update its internal state without anyone being able to observe it, while still being permissionless. Employing a private state blockchain will enable various features for the World ID protocol (e.g., World ID recovery and multi-wallet usage). Importantly, it will also store part of the application state belonging to each verified user. The World ID smart contract will programmatically check whether the fee has been paid before providing a receipt of the state change from the private state blockchain that enables the user to then generate the proof. In this way, using a private state blockchain also ensures that applications cannot circumvent World ID fees, as they cannot observe the state of the blockchain.

Figure 1 presents a high-level overview of the planned World ID fee implementation, using the example of a user who has already enrolled with a credential issuer and had their credential registered on the private state blockchain. World ID fees then work as follows: (1) An application that has integrated with World ID requests a proof (e.g., of unique humanness) from the user. (2) The user (via a World ID app like World App) decides to execute the request towards the World ID smart contract on the private state blockchain. (3) The smart contract automatically triggers the WLD fee payment from a wallet associated with the requesting application. (4) The corresponding credential fee is paid to the credential issuer wallet, and the protocol fee is paid to the protocol wallet. (5) The World ID smart contract updates its own state. (6) The World ID smart contract sends a receipt of the state change to the user. (7) The user’s app generates and sends the World ID proof to the application.

The World ID smart contract will require fees to be paid in WLD, meaning applications’ wallets on the private state blockchain must be pre-funded with WLD. Web3-native applications can directly pre-fund their wallet on the blockchain. Alternatively, applications (e.g., Web2 platforms) might use a third-party pre-funding service that handles the wallet pre-funding for them and charges the application in fiat. Either way, WLD tokens are ultimately used to pay all fees.

Figure 1 implicitly assumes that World ID fees are paid for every World ID proof. In practice, each credential issuer will be able to choose any pricing mechanism compatible with the architecture shown in Figure 1. Because pricing mechanisms are implemented as smart contracts on the private state blockchain, a wide array of options becomes possible, including:

• Per-proof: A fee could be charged for every World ID proof.
• Per-monthly-active-user: A fee could be charged for every monthly active user (per app-id). For each user, the fee would be collected the first time a proof is requested for that user in a given month. Since the computation happens inside the private state blockchain, per-monthly-active-user pricing models can be implemented without revealing the identity of users.
• Free tiers: The first 1000 users or the first 1000 proofs could be free.
• Volume discounts: The per-user or per-proof fee could decrease with volume.
• Discounts for specific applications: A credential issuer could offer discounts to specific applications (e.g., NGOs), or even offer their credentials for free.
• Fees proportional to economic value: A credential issuer could offer multiple proof variants at different fee levels, with some variants intentionally providing a lower level of proof assurance, allowing applications to select the level that best fits their needs.

While several different pricing mechanisms are possible, it is likely that most applications will prefer a per-monthly-active-user fee, as it allows applications to compare that fee with the value that World ID generates for them per user per month (e.g., due to an increase in ARPU). For the base fee component of the protocol fee, governance will similarly be able to decide on a suitable pricing mechanism.

The future World ID protocol will also enable “chaining” of credentials; for example, the proof of human credential could be combined with a proof-of-age credential from a passport credential. Fee amounts could then potentially depend on the combination of credentials required by a World ID proof. For example, the fee for a “uniqueness” proof could be lower than the fee for a “uniqueness + age” proof.

Each credential issuer will have discretion over how to use their credential fees. As for protocol fees, the World Foundation will initially govern their allocation. Over time, as governance becomes more decentralized, the World community will take over this responsibility. The community may choose to direct a portion of the fees toward continued network growth—for example, by supporting Operators or funding the User Tokens—or even decide to burn a share of the fees. As the World ID protocol grows (with more participants, more applications, and more World ID proofs), more fees will be generated, which can then flow back into the ecosystem to create further growth, leading to a self-reinforcing growth mechanism.

The World Foundation is currently working on the protocol changes necessary to enable World ID fees. The Foundation expects to complete this work and run a first pilot to test the fee mechanism during Q3 2025. The Foundation believes that demonstrating a path towards World ID fees early on is important to incentivize other parties in the ecosystem to issue and maintain their credentials, and to show how the protocol can become self-sufficient.

While the Foundation prepares to launch World ID fees, its primary focus remains squarely on growing World Network. The Foundation will also continue providing ecosystem grants to support the community of mini app developers, credential issuers, and applications integrating with World ID.