It’s been an eventful month for Worldcoin since minting its crypto token. The project, co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, quickly learned that if you try to scan the eyeballs of every person on earth in exchange for crypto, regulators might have some questions.
Scrutiny has come from countries as disparate as Argentina, Kenya and the UK. The project is under investigation in Germany, where the Worldcoin developer Tools for Humanity is based.
The crypto industry is getting accustomed to unwanted attention from governments. But it’s happening much more quickly for Worldcoin than it did for, say, Binance or Coinbase or, for that matter, Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX. Worldcoin is unique for a few reasons.
One is Altman. As the face of ChatGPT at OpenAI, Altman has testified before US Congress that artificial intelligence needs greater regulation. When I spoke to him ahead of Worldcoin’s token launch, he was passionate about working with policymakers and said the lack of legal clarity around crypto led to the decision to not make its token available in the US.
This makes it all the more surprising that the project has faced regulatory setbacks, including allegations that it didn’t follow necessary procedures ahead of its launch and ignored an order to stop collecting iris scans. Supporters of Worldcoin have argued that Clear or iPhone FaceID deserves the same level of scrutiny as Worldcoin. Regulators don’t appear to be buying it.
Amid the kerfuffle, the project is growing. More than 2.2 million people have signed up for a World ID, according to the project’s website. Worldcoin plans to distribute 1,500 orbs in more than 35 cities around the world by the end of 2023, which means that one of the devices could be coming soon to a place near you.