Kenyan law enforcement stormed the Nairobi warehouse of Worldcoin, an cryptocurrency platform co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The protocol uniquely employs iris scans to validate users and offers Worldcoin token airdrops in return.
Monday reports from local news establishments revealed that the authorities arrived at the warehouse unannounced, carrying out a comprehensive search of the premises. The police reportedly confiscated numerous documents and machines, the specifics of which remain undisclosed at this stage.
These events follow the recent suspension of the project by the Ministry of the Interior, raising questions about the project’s future in Kenya.
In a detailed account provided by Kahawatungu, it was described how a team of officers, backed by multi-agency personnel, executed a search operation at the Worldcoin’s Mombasa Road facility.
“Armed with a warrant, they accessed the premises and left with key machinery suspected to contain invaluable user data,” the media outlet informed.
Contrary to expectations, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC), headed by Immaculate Kassait, who supposedly supervised the operation, claims ignorance about it. This puzzling revelation arose amidst circulating reports that Kenyan authorities had suspended Worldcoin’s operations in the country last week.
Eliud Owalo, the nation’s Minister for the Digital Economy, maintained that the ODPC had been interacting with Worldcoin since April. He further emphasized that Worldcoin’s operations were compliant with Kenya’s data protection statutes.
However, later last week, the ODPC made an about-face, announcing that a preliminary assessment had unearthed several “legitimate regulatory concerns” regarding Worldcoin’s operations. Adding fuel to the fire, regulators from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany are purportedly examining the controversial project as well.
Monday’s reports suggest that Kassait stated that Tools for Humanity, Worldcoin’s parent company, had failed to be transparent about their intentions at the time of registration. Law enforcement transported the confiscated data to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for a comprehensive examination.
Worldcoin’s response to the situation remains elusive, with no comments provided. In the face of this controversy, the Worldcoin token (WLD) seemed unaffected, maintaining a steady value of $2.04 over 24 hours.
