Startup VeryAI has raised $10 million in a seed funding round led by Polychain Capital to launch a palm-scanning identity verification system designed to distinguish real users from AI-generated accounts.
The platform records identity credentials in Solana and aims to help cryptocurrency exchanges, fintech companies and online platforms address the growing risks from bots, deepfakes and synthetic identities. The company said zero-knowledge proofs allow users to check their status on platforms without revealing personal information.
The system captures palm images using a smartphone camera and converts them into encrypted biometric signatures that can be used to verify that the user is human without storing personally identifiable information.
According to the company, palm biometrics are highly distinctive and less exposed to the public than facial features typically used in identity verification. Scans are converted to non-retrievable images instead of stored images, preventing the recovery of the original biometric data.
“We’re entering an era where the internet no longer assumes that every account, post or video is created by a real person,” Zach Meltzer, founder and CEO of VeryAI, told Cointelegraph. “AI is powerful, but it’s also breaking down many of the assumptions of trust that the internet is built on.”
He said that cryptographic platforms are vulnerable to these risks, citing examples such as sybil attacks during downloads, encouraging token farming of fake accounts and scams targeting users and project communities.
The purpose is not only to prove that a person exists somewhere, but also to provide platforms to confirm that a real person exists and acts in a real way.
The company is already working with organizations including MEXC, Colosseum, Clique and Talus, with other centralized exchanges and wallets preparing to integrate the palm verification system, Meltzer said.
Investors in the round included the Berggruen Institute and Anagram. Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of the Solana blockchain, also joined as an angel investor.
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AI-generated identities drive demand for human proof systems
As artificial intelligence blurs the lines between human and automated activity online, some developers say blockchain-based identity systems could help restore trust in digital interactions.
Chris Dixon, general partner of Andreessen Horowitz and founder of the venture capital firm in the crypto investment sector a16z, warned last year that “a deep ocean of artificial intelligence and bots” could destroy trust on the Internet, and suggested that blockchain systems could help solve the problem by cryptographically verifying identity and digital content.
One company trying to solve the problem is World, founded by Sam Altman, which uses iris biometric scanners to generate digital identities that allow users to prove they’re human without revealing personal information. The system records a user’s unique identity on a blockchain network, while the Orb device scans a person’s face to confirm their identity, although the biometric approach has drawn criticism from privacy advocates.
As AI advances, interest in these systems is increasing. In January, the token linked to World ( WLD ) surged nearly 40% after reports that OpenAI was exploring a bot-free social media platform that would require users to verify they are human before participating.
Some developers argue that identity verification should balance authentication with privacy protection. Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin advocates models that allow users to prove specific attributes, such as uniqueness or compatibility, without revealing their full identity using technologies such as zero-knowledge proofs.
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