Kenyan government cites data protection as the reason for suspending the Worldcoin cryptocurrency.

Yesterday, Kenya announced that, pending the outcome of the "investigation into the security and protection of data collected by the company", it would suspend the Worldcoin cryptocurrency, whose verification system is based on iris recognition.

The Worldcoin system, which was launched by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in Germany at the end of June, is also being investigated by European regulators, in particular in France and Germany. This cryptocurrency isn't available in the US as of now. American authorities have been trying to figure out ways to better regulate this sector.

Worldcoin was created to be a sort of digital passport, which the company calls "World ID", that would be blockchain based. Users would able to prove their identity online without having to divulge any personal data. The users will have to take an iris scan with "orb", a biometric device manufactured by Worldcoin, in order to obtain this sesame.

A statement released by the country's Ministry of Home Affairs, it was confirmed that Worldcoin activities have been suspended. It will remain so until government authorities are able to determine if the cryptocurrency poses a threat to public safety.

Earlier this week, thousands of people in Nairobi (Kenya's capital) showed up at shopping malls and at the city's Main Conference Centre to undergo an iris scan, so they could receive 7000 Kenyan Shillings in virtual currency. This amount is the equivalent of anout 49 USD. A majority of these tokens were almost immediately resold.

Worldcoin is involved in collecting citizen data via these iris scans. The Kenyan government has launched an investigation to ensure that the company's activities are legal, and does not compromise data security in any way. This is why the ways in which the data will be used is also being looked into.

CoinMarketCap says that the value of the Worldcoin token has fallen from 3.58 USD to 2.37 USD.

Source : AFP