Kenyan Authorities Investigate Worldcoin Project

According to reports, Kenyan law enforcement agents raided a facility that belonged to the just-launched cryptocurrency startup Worldcoin. According to reports, the authorities visited the Nairobi-based warehouse over the weekend with a search warrant. In order to conduct a more thorough investigation, they seized project-related equipment and records.

Official Scrutiny Follows Suspension

The Worldcoin project has already been targeted by the Kenyan government, which on August 2 suspended all activity associated with the initiative’s registration and its native token WLD. Less than two weeks after the initiative was unveiled, the decision was made, and it indicates the authorities’ worries over the legitimacy and legality of Worldcoin’s debut.

Worldcoin’s Unconventional Identity Approach

As a decentralized identification attempt to discriminate between people and robots using artificial intelligence, Worldcoin was unveiled in July. The initiative intends to guarantee anonymity while addressing concerns about income disparity by using a proof-of-person methodology. The need that users demonstrate their humanity online by iris scans using a biometric verification tool called the Orb is the most divisive part of the plan. They then get free WLD tokens in return. Despite the project team’s assurances that the Orb doesn’t keep user data, this procedure has caused privacy concerns.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations’ main office received the confiscated equipment from the Nairobi storage for analysis. Immaculate Kassait, the data commissioner, said that Tools for Humanity, the main business of Worldcoin, had not been honest about its goals throughout registrations.

Registration Status and Regulatory Concerns

Worldcoin’s registration processes have raised concerns from Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority, which has warned the public that there is no regulatory control of the initiative in the nation. The Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki notified Parliament that Worldcoin does not have legal entity status in Kenya, despite the company’s claims that it complies with all laws and regulations.

Kenya was first chosen by Worldcoin as its first African location because of the country’s developing IT industry and the sizeable population of cryptocurrency traders there. Additionally, the initiative is active in Japan, Spain, Germany, and the UK. As worries grow, data protection authorities from a number of nations, including France, Germany, and the UK, have started looking into Worldcoin’s activities to make sure they adhere to data laws.