Highlights:

  • Founded in 2024, Humanity Protocol is developing a blockchain-based identity verification system using palm scans to combat bots, scams, and fraud.
  • Humanity Protocol competes with World, a blockchain-based identity project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and rebranded from Worldcoin in 2024.

Humanity Protocol raised USD 20 million in the latest funding. Humanity is a decentralized identity verification blockchain project.

The funding round was co-led by prominent crypto investment firms Pantera Capital and Jump Crypto, bringing the company’s fully diluted valuation to USD 1.1 billion. This follows a USD 30 million funding round in May 2024, which valued the company at USD one billion.

Founded in 2024, Humanity Protocol is developing a blockchain-based identity verification system using palm scans to combat bots, scams, and fraud. By leveraging distributed ledgers, the platform empowers users to control their identity data, allowing them to decide what information businesses and companies can access and how that data is shared.

“At Humanity Protocol, we’re committed to empowering individuals with digital identities that are truly their own,” said Humanity Protocol Founder Terence Kwok.

Participants create a “Human ID” by registering a permanent identity on the Humanity Protocol blockchain, which is linked to a scan of their palmprint. With a Humanity Protocol scanner, users can verify their human identity in various scenarios, such as attending events, checking into buildings, or making payments. The company calls this process “Proof of Humanity.”

Humanity Protocol competes with World, a blockchain-based identity project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and rebranded from Worldcoin in 2024. Worldcoin faced criticism for its use of iris scanning due to privacy concerns surrounding the collection of biometric data. Similarly, Humanity Protocol’s palm scans involve identity-verifying biometric data, but the information is stored only as cryptographic hashes to confirm the uniqueness of the palm print.

According to the company, its technology allows users to enhance privacy by eliminating the need for third-party identity verification. Personal data remains encrypted and hidden from verifiers, revealing no information about the individual other than proof of their identity.

Humanity Protocol plans to use the new funding to expand the rollout of its product in the coming months. A waitlist is already open for users interested in early access to the palm scanners.