Coin Cafe and Word of Mouth Drive Boom
Worldcoin Price Quadruples in One Year
Privacy Invasion Controversy and Ponzi Scheme Criticism
"Someone received Worldcoin and recently posted a review in a coin cafe saying the price surged. I'm uneasy about providing my information, but I have to accept it."
A man in his 30s, whom I met around 4 p.m. on the 28th at a cafe in Euljiro, Seoul, explained that this was the reason he came to receive Worldcoin. This small cafe, about 25 pyeong in size, has a Worldcoin identity verification machine called 'Orb' installed. People first open a World ID through an application (app), then register their identity via iris recognition and receive 10 Worldcoins (WLD). They receive 3 coins every two weeks, totaling 76 coins over a year. Considering the current market price is over 10,000 KRW, this amounts to about 800,000 KRW. Although registration is done through the app, on-site staff directly confirm whether data custody consent is given. As the price of Worldcoin recently surged, the number of visitors to the cafe increased tenfold from about 20 to around 200 per day. In fact, even considering it was a weekday afternoon, 19 people had gathered that day. It is a misconception to think only people in their 20s and 30s would be present just because virtual assets are the main theme. Half of the crowd were customers in their 40s and 50s. There was even a woman in her 60s who said she learned about Worldcoin through word of mouth at a gathering of acquaintances.
Worldcoin, a virtual asset created by CEO Sam Altman in July last year, has been steadily rising despite concerns about personal information infringement and fraud. Its price has quadrupled in a year. According to the virtual asset market tracking site CoinMarketCap, Worldcoin recorded 10,283 KRW at around 7 a.m. that day, up 6.73% from the previous day. It rose 13.12% compared to a week ago and has increased 362.63% compared to a year ago. Before OpenAI released the generative AI video production service 'Sora' on February 15, Worldcoin's price was in the 4,000 KRW range but doubled afterward. Worldcoin's trading volume currently ranks 15th overall on CoinMarketCap.
Altman argued that identity verification was necessary to prepare for an era when AI and humans cannot be distinguished online. This is why iris information is collected through Orb. According to the Worldcoin developer, Tools for Humanity (TFH), there are currently 10 locations operating Orb in South Korea. Aside from Seoul, Pangyo is the only other location. Online communities and coin cafes have expressed dissatisfaction, requesting expansion of operation points to provinces. Orb is currently installed in 196 locations across 10 countries worldwide. The number of subscribers holding World IDs has reached about 3.83 million, with 790,000 joining in the past week alone. A representative of a domestic virtual asset company said, "I believe in the sincerity of the explanation that Altman provided basic income for future humans in the AI era," adding, "It is presumed that iris recognition is used to prevent fake ID issuance using robots or computers."
Despite explosive growth, Worldcoin is accompanied by several controversies. One is the personal information infringement controversy. Iris information can uniquely identify individuals and is automatically classified as sensitive information. In South Korea, under current law, companies or institutions must obtain separate 'consent procedures for collecting sensitive information' when collecting biometric data. Biometric technology is expected to be used in various fields such as financial security, access control, healthcare, welfare, and public sectors. According to Article 15 of the Personal Information Protection Act, it must be checked whether the purpose and scope of collection were notified at the collection stage. Based on Article 28, when exporting information overseas, it is necessary to verify whether the recipient is the same as the information collector (third-party leakage) and notify the timing of transfer. In the U.S., where biometric data trading is sensitive, Worldcoin issuance itself is banned, and trading is not allowed. This is also stated in the personal consent guidelines of the Worldcoin app registration process. The governments of the UK, France, and Germany have also launched investigations into the legality.
A poster with a QR code for pre-registration of the Worldcoin application (app) is posted on the wall. Photo by Lee Seunghyung
The government’s stance is that fact-checking is necessary before judging legality. A representative from the Personal Information Protection Commission, the main agency for personal information, said, "Basically, before starting an on-site investigation, we need to look into the facts and related matters," adding, "Since it has been widely reported in the media, we are currently verifying information that can be confirmed through the Worldcoin application, which is the registration procedure." A Financial Supervisory Service official also explained, "Currently, only the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information (Special Financial Transactions Act) is in effect; the Virtual Asset User Protection Act has not been implemented yet," and "The Virtual Asset Act targets business operators for regulation, not the distribution itself."
Kim Jin-wook, a lawyer at Juwon Law Firm and a member of the Personal Information Protection Commission, said, "Worldcoin claimed that the entered iris information is immediately encrypted so that individuals cannot be identified, but conversely, this can be interpreted as acknowledging that it is sensitive information," adding, "Not only the collection process but also whether the legal requirements were met during overseas information transfer should be carefully examined if complaints arise in the future."
Worldcoin is also not free from fraud allegations. This is because there is no funding plan for providing basic income. Unlike Ethereum and others, the only funding method for Worldcoin is capital gains through price increases. There are extreme claims that it resembles a 'Ponzi scheme' that recycles others' money. CEO Altman has yet to explain how to secure the astronomical funds needed to provide basic income beyond issuing Worldcoin.
CryptoQuant CEO Ju Ki-young also publicly criticized Worldcoin last year on his personal social network service (SNS). He said, "Worldcoin scans the irises of people worldwide but excludes Americans because it knows it is illegal," adding, "To be precise, Americans can have their irises scanned but cannot receive tokens or incentives." He also pointed out, "I still don't understand why it had to be issued as a global digital currency to replace Bitcoin. Iris information is not even used to manage digital wallets."
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