Humanity Protocol becomes crypto’s new digital identity unicorn

Humanity Protocol becomes crypto’s new digital identity unicorn

Humanity Protocol, a startup that aims to verify people’s online identities in an era of artificial intelligence deepfakes, has raised new funding — vaulting it to unicorn status after less than a year.

The startup is building a blockchain-based identity system that recognizes individuals by using scans of people’s palms. It plans to announce Wednesday that it raised $30 million at a $1 billion valuation.

Kingsway Capital led the seed funding round, which also included Animoca Brands, Blockchain.com and Shima Capital as investors. Founder Terence Kwok said that the company also raised about $1.5 million from influential crypto figures in a “key opinion leader” round.

Founded late last year, Humanity Protocol plans to use the fresh capital to expand its more than 20-person team and build more partnerships as interest grows in platforms that confirm whether or not someone is a real person online.

“The whole concept of identity is starting to become more important,” Kwok said. “We look at artificial intelligence. We look at all the deepfake videos that are coming on.”

Kwok said the startup plans to launch its test network during the second quarter and currently has a waitlist of about 500,000. As it rolls out its technology, the plan is to first release an app that can use a phone camera to scan people’s palm prints to determine their identity, Kwok said.

The next step will be to roll out another layer of security that relies on the network of veins in a person’s palm and requires a small infrared camera that can connect to a smartphone. This system could help financial platforms conduct know-your-customer processes or even be used to allow entry to physical locations among other uses, according to Kwok.

In the future, “You can check into hotel through a palm scan,” he said. “You can access your office building through a palm scan.”

The company also has plans to release a yet-to-be-named crypto token that can be to used to pay verification fees. Both of its recent funding rounds were conducted through simple agreements for future tokens, known in the industry as SAFTs.

Humanity Protocol isn’t the only crypto project looking to combine biometrics and blockchain. Worldcoin, which was co-founded by OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman, uses a device called an orb to scan people’s eyes and give them a digital identity that demonstrates “proof of personhood.” However, the project has faced numerous regulatory setbacks around the world amid data privacy concerns, as well as security issues.

Kwok said the use of biometric data has matured in recent years, pointing to the use of Apple Inc.’s implementation of FaceID in its iPhones. He said that Humanity Protocol’s system is not as invasive.

“It's not your face and it's also not your eyeballs,” he said. “It's much less dystopian.”