- In March 2023, Worldcoin raised $100 Million funding at a $3 Billion valuation.
- WLD token was trading at a market price of $2.4 at publication time.
Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO, recently launched his altcoin called ‘Worldcoin.’ The project has risen in popularity since its inception. However, the Kenyan government has decided the initiative will no longer operate in the country. Officials took to social media platform Facebook to share the notice citing concerns regarding the project.
Kenyans Could Be Penalized For Using WorldCoin
According to the release, ongoing enquiries regarding the project are being made. The Kenya Ministry of Interior and National Administration emphasized that the Worldcoin project must take responsibility for the safety and integrity of financial transactions made by Kenyan citizens. It also mentioned the authorities will take appropriate action against anyone found engaging with the project.
Dataconomy, a technology-focused website, reported on July 31, 2023 that Worldcoin has deployed 119 Orbs around the globe. Orbs are iris scanning devices that the company is using to gather biometric data from users. Furthermore, the project delivers free WLD, the native token of the project, to their Worldcoin wallet against the scans.
Currently there are Orbs in 18 different countries including India, the United States, Hong Kong and more. The project was active in 15 locations in Kenya but the website only shows 1, and that too might disappear if the authorities decide to get rid of the project once and for all.
The official website data shows over 2 Million users on the network. To this date, users have claimed over 16 Million WLD tokens. What’s more, out of 2000 manufactured Orbs, 366 were active at publication time. That’s over a twofold increase in a couple of days in contrast to the aforementioned numbers.
It is Going Smooth Till Now
Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, recently touched on issues he believes should be resolved. He explained that biometric data could be prone to leak.
Moreover, there’s a scarcity of Orbs across the globe, leading to reduced accessibility to people globally.
Worldcoin has managed to keep investors hooked on the project. In March 2023, it raised $100 Million funding at a $3 Billion valuation. Moreover, the initiative raised $115 Million during a Series C funding round led by venture capital firm Blockchain Capital.
Technology news provider TechCrunch reported hackers have installed malware in Orbs operators’ devices. The malware can reportedly access data like earnings, uptime, sign-ups by the operator and more. The operators earn money for every user they sign-up for the project.
Since its inception, WLD price has peaked to a daily high of $7.5. The value has since remained under consolidation with a support near $1.8 and resistance around $2.6. Now that the Kenyan government has ordered a stoppage of the project’s operations, it remains to be seen if it will affect the token’s price in the coming days.
Source: Worldcoin (WLD) Price Chart at TradingView
As of now, over 115 Million WLD tokens are in circulation with a market capitalization of $280 Million. The cryptocurrency ranks at 111 according to data aggregator CoinMarketCap.
