Kenya’s Minister of Interior and National Administration said that the country has rejected a request from the United States government to revoke the suspension of operations for the cryptocurrency project Worldcoin.
According to local media outlet Businessdailyafrica, Interior Cabinet Secretary, Kithure Kindiki, told Parliament that the government will not lift the suspension it imposed in August 2023 on the activities of Worldcoin.
Professor 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 committee on Public Petitions, Prof Kindiki revealed that Kenya has encountered pressure from the U.S. government to remove the suspension on Worldcoin’s activities.
Kenya’s Minister of Internal Security announced on Facebook on Aug. 2 the suspension of Worldcoin’s activities until pertinent public agencies certify the absence of risks to Kenyans.
The minister 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 Member of Parliament Gabriel Tongoyo to look into the controversial crypto project.
Related: Worldcoin says it’s legal in all countries it operates in despite Spanish ban
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 WLD tokens worth, at the time, approximately 7,700 shillings ($54.60).
Apart from the parliamentary committee, the court 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 last year and August 2023 must 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 the famous 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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