Sam Altman’s World Project Supercharges App: Encrypted Chat & In-Chat Crypto Payments Now Live

Chat just got a major security and utility upgrade—and your crypto wallet is now part of the conversation.

World Project, the ambitious initiative backed by OpenAI's Sam Altman, has rolled out a significant app update. The new features push user privacy and financial sovereignty to the forefront, directly integrating crypto into daily digital interactions.

Private Talks, Public Ledger

The headline addition is end-to-end encrypted messaging. It's a move that cuts out intermediaries and places control of conversations squarely back with users. No more corporate oversight of your DMs.

Payments Without the Page Refresh

More intriguing is the new in-chat crypto payment function. Imagine settling a debt, splitting a bill, or sending funds without ever leaving the message thread. It bypasses clunky app-switching and makes peer-to-peer value transfer as seamless as sending a photo.

This isn't just a feature drop—it's a philosophical stance. It bundles private communication with decentralized finance, creating a closed-loop system for trust and trade. For the crypto-native, it's a natural evolution. For everyone else, it's a quiet nudge toward a world where digital assets fuel daily utility.

The update signals a broader convergence: messaging platforms are no longer just for talk. They're becoming the front-end for a new financial layer—one that operates on its own rules. Traditional finance gatekeepers might call it disruptive; users will just call it convenient. After all, why should sending money be harder than sending a meme?

World ‘Super App’: End-to-End Encryption, Crypto Integration

World formally launched its app in 2023 and said at the time that the mission is to provide tools to verify human identity in an era of AI manipulation.

The app upgrade was revealed on Thursday at World’s headquarters in San Francisco, where Altman and World co-founder and CEO Alex Blania briefly spoke about the innovations. Developers termed the new upgrade a “super app” before the product team explained its features.

“It’s really hard to identify unique people while preserving privacy,” said Altman, a Mezha report noted.

To ensure conversation privacy, the chat messages display blue bubbles for “verified humans” and gray bubbles for those who haven’t verified. Further, profile photos are checked against the Orb image stored on the user’s device.

World App Updates With Virtual Bank Accounts and Expanded Crypto Features

In May, World launched its iris-scanning project to US customers. The process involves users scanning their face and iris in about 30 seconds, creating a unique “IrisCode” to verify their identity.

Besides, the World already functions as a digital wallet; however, the new version introduces VIRTUAL bank accounts.

“Users can receive their salary directly in the World App, make deposits from bank accounts, after which funds can be converted into cryptocurrency,” the report added.

Besides swap and trade across more than 100 supported assets, World Chain native tokens and a RWA assets like tokenized Gold are also available, the company said in the statement.

The new version of the app underscores the firm’s intention to expand partnerships and build a more integrated ecosystem focused on the ease of crypto usage.