- Worldcoin raised $135M to expand its US biometric ID network.
- Kenya’s court banned Worldcoin, ordered biometric data.
- Indonesia suspended Worldcoin for regulatory violations.
The Worldcoin Foundation collected $135 million in a token sale to build its biometric identity system in the United States. The deal, which was announced on May 21, 2025, includes Andreessen Horowitz and Bain Capital Crypto buying WLD tokens directly. Its purpose is to increase the use of Worldcoin’s iris-based technology for identifying people online.
The capital will help Worldcoin set up Orb devices across the country. They assign a digital ID to users after scanning their irises to help confirm identity in today’s AI environment. The project began in six US cities such as Los Angeles and Miami, on May 1, 2025, following a positive change in crypto regulation.
Worldcoin’s goal is to set up a single world identity system. The investment will help improve the infrastructure of World ID, a blockchain verification service. The spokesperson for Worldcoin said the investment would help them achieve their goal of expanding a secure human network. Visa and Tinder are two examples of companies that are helping to bring World ID into our regular apps.
As investors brought non-discounted, market-priced tokens, the value of the project rose by 14% following the announcement. Worldcoin is currently expanding by growing its user base and over 10 million people have already joined.
Kenya has stopped allowing Worldcoin operations.
Kenya’s High Court ruled on May 5, 2025, that Worldcoin was acting illegally due to breaches of the Data Protection Act of 2019. Under Justice Roselyne Aburili’s judgment, any biometric data obtained from Kenyan individuals was to be erased within a week. Data collection is now only allowed after completing a Data Protection Impact Assessment and getting genuine consent.
Approximately three hundred fifty thousand Kenyans had enrolled in Worldcoin, obtaining cryptocurrency tokens valued at $55 each following having their irises scanned.The court believed that financial incentives made the process illegal because it did not ensure informed consent. The Data Protection Commissioner’s Office will supervise the process of deleting data to guarantee it is done correctly.
The ruling is the result of advocacy groups, including the Katiba Institute, fighting the matter in court for two years. “The decision protects people’s privacy worldwide and brings a new standard,” said a representative from the Katiba Institute. Kenya’s move is a major blow to Worldcoin in one of the biggest markets it serves.
There are growing problems with regulation at the global level.
Right after Kenya’s ruling, Indonesia halted Worldcoin’s activities, stating that the company had engaged in some suspicious activity and broke the law. Investigators from South Korea, Germany, and Spain are looking into the project’s use of biometric data.Many argue that giving tokens for iris scans may be unethical, mainly in countries that are still developing.
Worldcoin says the Orb devices change eye scans into coded information, then erase the original information to maintain privacy. Still, worries have been raised after reports of unofficial iris scans in countries such as Cambodia. To fight fraud, the company has started using dynamic QR codes.
Regulatory issues have not stopped Worldcoin from increasing its presence worldwide. Over 160 countries worldwide are covered by the project and two million users are active each day. More than 70 million transactions have been processed through its World App, a crypto wallet. The US is benefiting from a good regulatory setting, but difficulties elsewhere remain.
The collaboration between Fireblocks and Alchemy has allowed Worldcoin to improve its infrastructure.The purpose of these collaborations is to improve both safety and scalability in the use of World ID. The main objective of the project is to align its identity system with financial and government systems everywhere.
