All Articles
Crypto

The Worldwide Euphoria and Unease Around Worldcoin

September 23, 2023
x min read
The Worldwide Euphoria and Unease Around Worldcoin

Sam Altman is widely regarded as one of the brightest minds in technology.

But his newest venture is causing euphoria, intrigue and controversy across the world.

What’s happening:

  • Worldcoin is a crypto project co-founded by Sam Altman and Alex Blania aiming to become a financial network accessible to everyone
  • The project has been wildly popular in its initial launch but has also come under enormous scrutiny from both users and global governments
  • Many are outraged by the concept of encouraging individuals to voluntarily give up their biometric data and the underlying privacy concerns of a private company being involved in such a process

The details:

  • Worldcoin has proprietary hardware known as an Orb that verifies individuals through scanning their iris
  • The Kenyan government ordered Worldcoin to stop signing up new users amid their concerns over citizens privacy
  • Further, the Kenyan government has launched an investigation into Worldcoin citing concerns about biometric data and offering money in exchange for signing up users
  • France, Britain and other countries have also been outspoken about their concerns around privacy being caused by Worldcoin
  • Regulators in Argentina and Germany have both launched formal investigations into Worldcoin

Yes but:

  • Despite the numerous criticisms, Worldcoin has been growing rapidly at the global level
  • Recently Worldcoin signed up more than 9000 individuals in a single day in Argentina
  • Currently Worldcoin has more than 2 million users using the network in just over two months since its initial launch
  • Worldcoin’s app has been downloaded in more than 120 different countries and currently has Orbs in the Middle East, Asia, the United States, Europe and more

Going deeper:

  • Worldcoin has been public about their intention to work closely with regulators and governments, saying they welcome discussions about privacy concerns
  • Further, Worldcoin continues to affirm publicly they will never under any circumstances sell or leverage people’s personal private data and says it is permanently deleted once a user has signed up

Market reaction:

  • Worldcoin, which trades under the crypto symbol WLD, has seen its token value decrease by approximately 30% since its launch

Discover the world's most disruptive early stage companies with 35,000+ investors.

The markets and trends that matter, made simple.

Join top talent at the world's most respected institutions, companies, and venture capital funds.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.