> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://worlddao.gitbook.io/worlddao-white-paper/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://worlddao.gitbook.io/worlddao-white-paper/advancing-decentralization/governance.md). # Governance A global community of developers, individuals, economists and technologists conceived and made early contributions to the Worldcoin protocol. The original idea started with co-founders Sam Altman, Alex Blania and Max Novendstern, who assembled a team to take the initial steps toward development of technology to support Worldcoin via their company Tools for Humanity. Tools for Humanity’s mission is to build a more just economic system. It is a Delaware (U.S.) corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California, with a wholly-owned subsidiary, Tools for Humanity GmbH based in Germany. Tools for Humanity supported Worldcoin’s multi-year beta testing phase, during which it developed [the Orb](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qensVrdrMCGsvIc4XUu-7xuXrDeRtW9ghW1VfBFSNsw/edit#heading=h.x16ff5pqd0cu) and the [World App](http://worldcoin.org/world-app). To date, Tools for Humanity and other early contributors are committed to providing every person on the planet access to the global economy, regardless of country or background. Today, the governance of the Worldcoin project is overseen by the Worldcoin Foundation, an independent entity, which is committed to continue transitioning governance to all of humanity. It is also important that this happens in a deliberate way and that governance (e.g., voting) is well studied and tested before complete control is fully transitioned.

The graph represents a possible evolution of the governance of the Worldcoin project. It is important that this happens in a deliberate way and that e.g. voting mechanisms are well studied and tested before complete control is handed over. Today, the governance of the Worldcoin project is overseen by the Worldcoin Foundation.

The following sections describe different improvements that already have and can contribute towards this objective. #### [Worldcoin Foundation Setup](https://whitepaper.worldcoin.org/#worldcoin-foundation-setup) On October 31st, 2022 the Worldcoin Foundation was established as the non-profit steward of the Worldcoin protocol, supporting and growing the ecosystem as it becomes self-sufficient. The Foundation’s main objective is to scale an inclusive identity and financial network as a public utility and to expand the governance thereof. This infrastructure has the potential to empower everyone to participate in the global economy in the age of AI and provide the foundation for shared governance of for universal basic income. The Foundation is an exempted limited guarantee foundation company, which is a type of non-profit incorporated in the Cayman Islands. It has a wholly-owned business company subsidiary in the British Virgin Islands called World Assets Limited. This is “[one of the most often used, and internationally recognized structures](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4123737)” for decentralized blockchain projects. To learn more about this entity arrangement, check out this [Guide to the Cayman Islands Foundation Company](https://www.ogierproperty.ky/publications/a-guide-to-the-cayman-islands-foundation-company.html) from the Foundation’s outside counsel at the law firm Ogier. The Worldcoin Foundation is “memberless”; it has no owners or shareholders. This entity setup was a good fit for the Worldcoin project due to the Foundation’s separate personhood, limited liability, tax efficiency, support for compliance with virtual asset regulations, and suitability for long-term community governance. That last point is especially important. Cayman foundation companies can be structured to be “memberless” (that is, have no owners or shareholders) and instead to take instructions from token holders and/or World ID holders. They can therefore gradually steer matters such as running a grant program, open sourcing intellectual property (IP), entering into service agreements, and managing a treasury. In the case of the Worldcoin project, the shared governance model is all the more critical so that, in the long-term, decisions can reside with the community. At the same time, the Foundation can aid the community’s governance by safeguarding protocol IP. In most legal systems today, a traditional legal entity is needed to protect IP such as trademarks, open-source copyrights and domains. Tools for Humanity has already transferred core protocol IP to the Foundation, including smart contracts, the World ID SDK, patents for the Orb design and iris recognition technology, brand assets, domains and social media accounts. And the Foundation has [open sourced several core tech repositories](http://worldcoin.org/open-source) and made the Orb’s hardware available under its [Responsible Use License](https://github.com/worldcoin/orb-hardware/blob/main/LICENSE.md). #### [Transfer of Control and Ownership to the Foundation](https://whitepaper.worldcoin.org/#transfer-of-control-and-ownership-to-the-foundation) In order to facilitate a governance model that involves all of humanity, several assets and key components have been transitioned to the Worldcoin Foundation: 1. **Treasury:** The Worldcoin Foundation (and/or its affiliate entities) manages the treasury of tokens once they are unlocked. This includes Worldcoin grants, Operator rewards, and other contributor grants. 2. **Orb IP:** Tools for Humanity has transferred the Orb IP to the Worldcoin Foundation. - The Orb hardware and software will be made publicly available under a restricted use license, prohibiting the misuse of the technology. This allows the Foundation to onboard other organizations building Orbs or similar devices. 3. **Data:** In the case of the Worldcoin project, due to the protocol’s use of personal data, the shared governance model is especially important. The Foundation is the “data controller” for any personal data collected via Orb sign-ups after network launch. Through its data consent form, the Worldcoin Foundation makes it clear that “**We will never sell your data.** We will also not use any data listed in this form to track you or to advertise third parties’ products to you,” and that “We will not sell, lease, trade, or otherwise profit from your biometric data.” 4. **Ability to Whitelist Orb Provisioning Entities:** The Foundation manages the permissions for adding Orbs to the network, balancing hardware distribution, security, and growth. In order to grow the network and ultimately enable all of humanity to participate in the governance of the Worldcoin project, the issuance of World ID and allocation of the WLD token (in certain countries) is ongoing. #### [Support Future Development](https://whitepaper.worldcoin.org/#support-future-development) To encourage individuals and organizations to contribute to the Worldcoin ecosystem through research, the development and production of Orbs or auditing the system, the Worldcoin Foundation is setting up a grants program. Further, the Worldcoin Improvement Proposals (WIP) process is currently being created and will be open for proposals soon. Separately, the Foundation intends to work on common standards and ecosystem-wide proposals. For example, today, Orbs are developed and produced by Tools for Humanity. Orb operations are managed by several organizations around the world. With support from Tools for Humanity, the Foundation will work on standards and incentives for organizations to develop, produce and operate Orbs such that production of Orbs and their operation can be further distributed. More details can be found in the sections on Hardware and Operations. #### [Initial Community](https://whitepaper.worldcoin.org/#initial-community) The Worldcoin project maintains a dynamic and evolving blueprint that is subject to change and refinement through input and decisions from the Worldcoin community. Today, whether you are a developer, a user, an enthusiast, or simply someone interested in the future of decentralized systems, you can learn more and participate through the following channels: 1. Join the community discussion on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/worldcoin) or [Discord](https://discord.gg/worldcoin) 2. Contribute to open-source repositories on [Github](https://github.com/worldcoin) 3. Visit the World ID [Developer Docs and Portal](https://docs.worldcoin.org/) 4. Reach out directly to the World ID team 5. View live onchain data on [Dune Dashboard](https://dune.com/worldcoin/worldcoin) 6. View the [Open Source Overview](http://worldcoin.org/open-source) To enhance transparency and facilitate community involvement, regular community calls should be established with the aim to provide a platform for open dialogue and updates on the Worldcoin project's progress. Additionally, a dedicated forum similar to [ethresearch](https://ethresear.ch/) should be set up to further foster meaningful discourse and engagement around the Worldcoin project. This forum will serve as a hub for ideas, suggestions, and discussions among community members and the project team. Lastly, the Foundation has already hosted several developer meetups and strives to create more opportunities for developers to collaborate, innovate, and contribute to the Worldcoin project. #### [Decisions by Community](https://whitepaper.worldcoin.org/#decisions-by-community) Increasing the resilience of the governance of the Worldcoin protocol is both imperative and unprecedented, given the foundational nature of proof-of-personhood infrastructure and the ambition to scale it to billions of people. Building a community-based governance system for Worldcoin represents perhaps the most formidable challenge of the entire project, and this process is still in its earliest stages. The Foundation should ultimately have a limited role in the protocol's governance. To this end, the Foundation’s founding documents have provisions for community-driven governance. These provisions make it possible, through a prescribed process, for the community to make recommendations to the Foundation’s Board of Directors. For further details, see the Foundation’s [Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association](http://worldcoin.foundation/). World ID provides unique infrastructure for distributed governance and presents the opportunity to harness input from a large and diverse set of individuals for community-driven governance. The reach of World ID is unprecedented: over two million World IDs have already been issued, and tens of thousands more are issued each week. As a proof-of-personhood protocol, World ID naturally supports “one-person-one-vote” voting, in contrast to [token-based voting](https://vitalik.ca/general/2021/08/16/voting3.html) commonly used by other blockchain projects. Notably, this adds more democratic options to the design space of voting mechanisms for Worldcoin. However, the exact structure of delegating decisions to the community needs careful iteration and consultation with experts. Further, many governance decisions notoriously lack engagement from participants. Therefore, it will be important to encourage a large set of people to participate and explore the decisions. In the future, the User Agent should not only serve as an entry point into using Worldcoin, but also the governance over it. #### [\[Research\] Full Handover to Community](https://whitepaper.worldcoin.org/#research-full-handover-to-community) The Worldcoin Foundation is committed to continuously transition governance towards a model that involves all of humanity. This is an unprecedented endeavor in scale and complexity for a decentralized system, which will require a methodical and gradual approach. Key aspects like voting mechanisms should be thoroughly researched, validated with experts and tested before meaningful control is transferred. Transparency, inclusivity, and neutrality are essential. However, these attributes contribute to intricate governance structures like today’s democracies, which can lead to often slow and expensive decision-making. While this deliberateness is beneficial for making long-term strategic decisions, such as amending a constitution, it can hinder the ability to quickly adapt to new challenges during the initial growth phases. Hence, prematurely adopting a governance model that fully transitions governance to the community without a well-vetted plan is itself a failure mode to be avoided. The Foundation will solicit proposals for how token holders and World ID holders should interact in Worldcoin’s governance model. In general, the Foundation seeks input from contributors, the community and experts in the field as it increases the robustness of the governance of the Worldcoin protocol. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. 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