Over 350,000 Kenyans sign up for Worldcoin one week after launch

Over 350,000 Kenyans have signed up for Worldcoin, the new cryptocurrency by American Artificial Intelligence (AI) company OpenAI, the company said Tuesday.

Registering for Worldcoin involves scanning one's eyeballs through an orb in exchange for a digital identity called World ID.

Wangeci Mwangi, a consultant with Worldcoin told Citizen Digital that 350,000 Kenyans had, as of Tuesday, gotten their eyeballs scanned in the crypto uptake.

New members receive 25 free cryptocurrency tokens known as WLD after getting their eyeballs scanned. The tokens are currently valued at Ksh.7,786.

Mwangi spoke at the Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC) where thousands flocked for a second day to sign up for the project. Long queues leading to KICC were witnessed on Tuesday, reaching as far as City Hall.

“Mimi sijui Worldcoin ni nini lakini naambiwa kuna pesa,” A lady who turned up to register confesses pic.twitter.com/t9DRoDbfRU

The uptake craze saw police stop the registration exercise at KICC on Tuesday afternoon over security concerns.

Officers asked the Worldcoin team to stop the exercise and kicked out the crowds due to the security risks involved and look for a bigger venue such as the Nyayo or Kasarani stadiums.

The excitement is despite caution from the Office of Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC), which Friday urged vigilance when signing up for Worldcoin and warned against rushing to sign up for the project amid data privacy concerns.

"The ODPC is aware that Worldcoin has now been launched and is processing sensitive personal data in a manner that requires a demonstration of proper safeguards under the Data Protection Act, 2019," reads a statement from the commission. 

Data Commissioner Immaculate Kassait said the commission is conducting its assessment of Worldcoin's practices to ensure compliance with the law. 

The project by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has been heavily criticised over privacy concerns. Still, the company's website says the project is "completely private" and that data is deleted or a user can opt to have it stored in encrypted form.