Worldcoin, a prominent cryptocurrency project, has recently disabled its offline orb verification feature in three key markets: India, Brazil, and France. This decision comes after a surge in individuals seeking to register and acquire free Worldcoin (WLD) tokens, resulting in overwhelming demand and logistical challenges for the company.
During Worldcoin’s launch in late July 2023, India was initially included as one of the listed countries for offline orb verification. The country featured 18 on-ground verification locations, primarily located in Bengaluru and Delhi NCR. The plan was to extend orb services to over 35 cities across 20 countries.
However, India has now been completely removed from the list of countries on Worldcoin’s website. According to insider information, orb verification services in India were temporarily scaled back to address the overwhelming demand. The company is currently working on implementing a customized, secure, and organized registration process specific to India.
The surge in people lining up at specified venues to register for orb verification and obtain Worldcoin tokens proved to be too much for the deployed orbs to handle. The strain on the system eventually led to the suspension of new World ID signups. Despite this temporary setback, there continues to be a substantial daily influx of World App downloads in India.
The Worldcoin project was initiated by Tools for Humanity (TFH), a company established in 2019. TFH was founded by Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, along with Alex Blania and Max Novendstern. The project introduced a digital framework consisting of three primary components: World ID, Worldcoin token (WLD), and World App.
World ID is a personalized biometric digital identity for users, created through orb verification. The process is intended to uphold privacy, with user information securely captured through eyeball scanning. However, concerns about the organization’s data collection approaches have been raised by global regulators and privacy advocates.
Since its launch, the Worldcoin project has attracted the attention of regulators around the world. Countries like Argentina, France, Germany, and the UK have initiated investigations into the crypto project to ensure compliance with data regulations and privacy standards. The focus is to verify that no breaches have occurred and that user data is adequately protected.
Even the Kenyan government has formed a parliamentary committee consisting of 15 members to investigate the controversial cryptocurrency project.
While Worldcoin’s offline orb verification feature has been temporarily disabled in India, Brazil, and France, the company is actively working on addressing the overwhelming demand and challenges associated with it. The project’s commitment to privacy and data protection remains a key focus amid ongoing regulatory scrutiny.
As the investigations continue globally, Worldcoin must navigate the complexities of data regulations and privacy expectations to build trust and secure its place in the cryptocurrency market.
