World open-sources ProveKit, its zero-knowledge ID toolkit, as biometric project faces regulators

World — the human-identity project co-founded by OpenAI chief Sam Altman, formerly known as Worldcoin — has released ProveKit, a zero-knowledge identity-proving toolkit, as open source, The Block reported on September 2. The code had already been running inside World ID since an early-access rollout in April; the release opens it to outside developers.

The pitch, per World: ProveKit lets a user generate a cryptographic proof on their own phone or browser that establishes a specific claim — that they're over a certain age, hold a given nationality, or own a valid ID — without handing over the underlying document. The verifier receives only a yes/no on the claim being proven. World says proofs are generated locally rather than via a delegated server, so the personal data never leaves the device. It adds that World ID credentials can store data read from NFC chips in passports and national ID cards locally, and that the issuing authority's cryptographic signature can be verified inside a zero-knowledge circuit — keeping the data, it says, inaccessible to World Foundation, the affiliated Tools for Humanity, or any third party.

On the technical claims — all World's own, relayed by The Block — the toolkit supports Noir, the zero-knowledge language from Aztec, and targets 128-bit post-quantum security with no trusted setup. World says benchmarks show proofs completing in seconds on a typical phone and under 30 seconds on a low-end test device. ProveKit v1 is described as production-ready and optimized for off-chain verification; a v2 in development would cut proof size and time and add on-chain verification, with World saying it's exploring Groth16 support for chains including Ethereum, Base, Solana and its own World Chain.

Key facts

• World open-sourced ProveKit on or around Sept. 2, 2026; it had been used in World ID via early access since April, a World Foundation spokesperson told The Block.
• The toolkit had roughly two years of development, per the spokesperson (The Block).
• Claimed specs: local proof generation, Noir support, 128-bit post-quantum security, no trusted setup, sub-30-second proofs on a low-end device (World, via The Block).
• World's biometric identity project faces regulatory scrutiny in Spain, Kenya, Brazil, Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong and the Philippines (The Block).

The real-world read

Nearly every performance and security figure here comes from World describing its own product — the benchmarks, the "inaccessible to us" data claims, the post-quantum assurances. Open-sourcing the code makes those claims auditable in principle, which is the point, but they haven't been independently verified yet. The timing frames the pitch: World Foundation blockchain head Remco Bloemen tied the launch to a Brian Krebs report that the FBI is investigating a dark-web service selling scans of 153 million-plus driver's licenses allegedly siphoned from vendor IDScan.net — a real problem, deployed here as an argument for World's approach. Left conspicuously understated: World's own biometric iris-scanning model is under regulatory pressure across at least seven jurisdictions. A privacy-tooling release doesn't resolve that.

Opinion, and whose

World's spokesperson argued the technology "must be neutral and permissionless." Bloemen went further: "Identity documents should only be authenticated using zero-knowledge proofs." Both are World's positions, and both parties have an obvious interest in advancing them.

Sources

• The Block (reputable secondary) — the sole report; sourced its technical and security details to a World Foundation spokesperson and to Bloemen's X posts. Not marketing, but note nearly all specifics originate with World itself.

This is news coverage, not financial or security advice.