Kenya Suspends Worldcoin Crypto Project on Public Safety Grounds

Updated: 02 August 2023

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Kenya suspended the activities of Sam Altman’s Worldcoin on Wednesday while it assesses concerns over the crypto project’s public safety.

Kenya was a large market for the project, which offers to provide people with a global identity via eyeball scans, and has also issued the WLD crypto token. Local media reported over 350,000 Kenyans signed up for Worldcoin scans on Tuesday, in large part because of rewards offered by the company.

“The Government is concerned by the ongoing activities of an organization calling itself ‘WORLD COIN’ which is involved in the registration of citizens through the collection of eyeball/iris data,” Kenya’s Ministry of the Interior said in a statement on Facebook on Wednesday. “It will be critical that assurances of public safety and the integrity of the financial transactions involving such a large number of citizens be satisfactorily provided upfront.”

It added that security, financial services and data protection agencies are investigating the ”authenticity and legality” of Worldcoin’s activities in the country, as well as the protection of data it is gathering.

Folks registering for World Coin. Is it a Cult? pic.twitter.com/yT6Qdy9WLA

— Car Advice Kenya (@Caradvicekenya) July 28, 2023

The Kenyan public has been very receptive to Worldcoin since its launch last week. Soon after the team stationed Orbs in supermarkets and malls, the promise of earning 7,700 Kenyan Shillings – $55 – from a rewards program attracted a massive following.

The value of the rewards for getting eyeballs scanned for the company’s ID is more than half the monthly minimum wage in Kenya, which stands at about $106. Until the recent suspension, the crypto reward tokens could be cashed via Binance or other crypto exchanges and converted into local currency.

Worldcoin Raises Privacy Concerns in Kenya

Kenya’s data privacy regulator issued warning days after the project was launched. The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner issued a warning to residents who sought to get Worldcoin’s “free” tokens via Twitter.

Companies began offering services to cash their crypto rewards. One, called, Nuzo, offered discounts on food items for people who used their service at a convention centre to swap WLD tokens.

if you’re at KICC today for @worldcoin registration, you can swap some $WLD for $NUZO @ Ksh 375 and get unga ya 2KG for 200/= only

so with 2 $WLD, you can buy 6kg of UNGA and be left with Ksh 150 #SaveWithNuzo pic.twitter.com/2cWlsXq91G

— Charles (@CharlesDNichols) July 30, 2023

How can you cash out your @worldcoin
tokens without being scammed?

We are at the @worldcoin registration in KICC. Visit us and learn more . pic.twitter.com/jlOk9zpNlx

— Kotani Pay (@kotanipay) July 30, 2023

Worldcoin Faces Scrutiny Across the Globe

Worldcoin’s drawn the ire of many agencies around the globe. France’s privacy regulator deemed the legality of collecting biometric data questionable. Britain is in the process of making inquiries about this project, and the Bavarian State Office of Data Protection Supervision in Germany has been investigating Worldcoin since November 2022, according to Reuters.

Despite Kenya’s suspension, Worldcoin rose 3.5% in the last 24 hours and traded at $2.42 at 9:20 EST. Worldcoin’s market capitalization has boosted by 4.59% (now $278.1 million), and its trading volume has increased by 9% ($114.8 million).