Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project co-created by Sam Altman, disclosed that there has been an increase in demand for World ID. This growing popularity is said to have resulted in a new single-day record for user sign-ups in Argentina. This feat comes despite the ongoing investigation by local Argentinean authorities into the crypto project’s operations.
Worldcoin Registers 9,500 World ID Verification In A Single Day
In a blog post published on Thursday, 31st of July, Worldcoin revealed that about 9,500 Argentines verified their World ID in a single day in August. This figure translates to one human verification every 9 seconds.
According to the blog post, the rising demand also propelled the World App, the first wallet created for the project, to temporarily occupy the number one spot of top apps in Argentina on the app store.
The Worldcoin project, officially launched on July 24, aims to provide people with a “verifiable digital identity” when they sign up via the custom biometric imaging device called the Orb.
The project’s team disclosed in the latest post that the Orbs are currently accessible in four cities in Argentina, including Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata, Cordoba, and Mendoza.
Interestingly, the purported increasing popularity of Worldcoin has not been expressed in the price of WLD, the project’s native token. According to CoinGecko data, the cryptocurrency is currently valued at $1.2, reflecting a 48.3% price decline in the past month.
The Growing Regulatory Scrutiny
The Worldcoin project has faced controversy due to its identity verification practices, particularly iris scanning by the Orbs. Meanwhile, various regulatory bodies have expressed their skepticism toward the project’s data-handling processes.
Earlier in August, the Argentinean Agency for Access to Public Information (AAIP) launched an investigation into the project’s operations. This probe is reportedly focused on the evaluation of data security measures being employed by Worldcoin.
According to existing Argentinean laws, projects like Worldcoin are required to register with the AAIP, while also providing a detailed explanation of their data collection and collection procedures.
Worldcoin’s data handling procedures have also drawn the attention of regulatory bodies in other countries, including France, Germany, Kenya, and the United Kingdom.
Kenya has been particularly strict on the project, suspending its operations barely a week after it launched. On August 6, the Kenyan police conducted a raid on Worldcoin’s Nairobi facility, confiscating devices used for storing users’ data.
In the latest development, a Kenyan High Court ordered Worldcoin and its partners to halt further processing of biometric data until the case against the cryptocurrency venture is heard and resolved.