Kenya’s Interior secretary said the country rejected a request from the United States government to revoke its suspension of operations for the cryptocurrency project Worldcoin.
According to local media outlet Business Daily Africa, Cabinet Secretary of Interior and Administration of National Government, Kithure Kindiki, told parliament that the government will not lift the suspension it imposed in August 2023 on the activities of Worldcoin.
Kindiki said the suspension would remain in effect until assurances of the safety and integrity of financial deals are provided.
Speaking to the National Assembly’s Public Petitions Committee, Kindiki revealed that Kenya has encountered pressure from the U.S. government to remove the suspension on Worldcoin’s activities.
On Aug. 2, 2023, Kindiki announced the suspension of Worldcoin’s activities until relevant public agencies certify the absence of risks to Kenyans.
The cabinet secretary stressed that the government of Kenya is specifically concerned with Worldcoin collecting crucial identification information like iris scans in exchange for a digital ID.
Nearly three weeks after the suspension of Worldcoin, the Kenyan government formed a 15-member parliamentary committee headed by Gabriel Tongoyo, a member of parliament, to look into the controversial crypto project.
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Worldcoin gained notoriety in Kenya as hundreds thronged venues in the country to register for the program by scanning their iris using Worldcoin’s Orb device and receiving 25 Worldcoin (WLD) tokens worth approximately 7,700 shillings ($54.60) at the time.
Apart from the parliamentary committee, a court also suspended Worldcoin’s activities after the data commissioner’s office filed a case. The court ordered that the data already collected by Worldcoin between April and August 2023 be preserved pending completion of the lawsuit.
After three years of development, the Worldcoin project was officially launched on July 24, 2023. The project was co-founded by Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI — the firm behind artificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbot ChatGPT.
Worldcoin’s mission builds on expectations that it will become too difficult to differentiate between humans and online bots as AI technology grows.
The startup created a digital ID system based on proof-of-personhood to differentiate humans from AI. Such a digital ID is generated by scanning an individual’s iris and giving them a World ID.
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