Worldcoin, the highly controversial crypto project, made its public debut on July 24, offering users the opportunity to receive 25 Worldcoins (WLD), the project’s native token, by scanning their irises at designated locations across 20 countries. The launch, fueled by 2 million pre-signups, generated substantial interest initially, but the excitement seems to have waned after the actual rollout.
Hong Kong emerged as the hotspot for signups on the first day, with three designated spots called Orbs facilitating the iris scanning process and issuing a “world ID” to users. The South China Morning Post reported that each Orb location in Hong Kong recorded approximately 200 signups on the launch day, making it the leader among the 20 countries included in the launch.
Heatherm Huang, an Orb operator in Hong Kong, disclosed that the city accounted for nearly half of the total signups witnessed in all the new markets. With 600 sign-ups in Hong Kong and an estimated total of 1000 sign-ups across all countries, it appears that interest has not been as substantial as anticipated, given the 2 million pre-signups.
The decline in enthusiasm can be partly attributed to the project’s controversial early on-boarding tactics. An MIT report claimed that the developers employed deceptive practices, cash handouts, and other strategies, particularly in developing countries with lax data protection laws, to attract their first million users.
Such practices have drawn severe scrutiny from prominent figures within the crypto community, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. They have expressed concerns about the project’s methods and privacy implications.
Worldcoin, in response to criticism, has defended itself by asserting that it does not collect any personal information and is willing to delete users’ biometric data upon request. However, these assurances have failed to assuage the concerns raised by crypto experts and privacy advocates.
As Worldcoin forges ahead amid controversy and dwindling interest, the project’s long-term viability and acceptance within the crypto community remain uncertain. Only time will tell if the vision behind this ambitious venture can overcome the obstacles it currently faces.
