Singapore has launched an investigation into possible illegal activities surrounding Worldcoin, a project co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman that aims to create a global identity network using biometric data and its cryptocurrency, the WLD token.
Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, who also heads the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), disclosed on September 9 that the police are investigating seven individuals involved in unauthorized trading of Worldcoin accounts and tokens.
Singapore’s Payment Services Act of 2019 requires individuals offering payment services to be licensed. Yong noted that while Worldcoin itself does not provide such services under the act, those who engage in buying or selling Worldcoin accounts and tokens as a business could be operating an illegal payment service.
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He advised the public to avoid selling or transferring their Worldcoin accounts, expressing concerns about the misuse of such accounts for criminal purposes, like money laundering or terrorism financing. Yong said:
Consumers should beware of inducements to transfer access of their digital payment token wallet or World ID as these accounts could be misused by third parties. We caution consumers against doing so.
Furthermore, Yong stressed that organizations dealing with sensitive information, especially biometric data, must follow strict regulations to safeguard against misuse.
Worldcoin has faced increasing scrutiny from regulators worldwide, particularly over its practice of collecting iris biometric data. Countries like the UK, Kenya, Argentina, and Portugal have taken action, suspending iris data collection or investigating the company’s methods of gathering personal information.
This investigation highlights growing concerns about how platforms handle personal data and the potential risks of misuse.
Gode is a Web3 Market Analyst who researches the most important industry events and interprets how they affect the wider Web3 space. Her formal education in media culture & digital rhetoric allows her to employ a methodical approach to evaluating critical Web3 news data, including large-scale events and the wider social sentiment within the ecosystem.
Gode is a mutilingual professional, having studied in multiple universities all across Europe. This allows her to have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to analyze Web3 social sentiments spanning different cultures and languages and, in turn, develop a much deeper understanding of how the Web3 space is growing within different communities. With the rest of her team, Gode works to identify crucial crypto news patterns and provide unbiased and data-driven information.
Gode’s passions include working and communicating with people, and when she’s not researching Web3 news, she spends her time traveling and watching true crime documentaries.
