Kenyan Committee Says Worldcoin Actions 'Constituted Acts Of Espionage'

Worldcoin (WLD), the iris biometric cryptocurrency project, is still under investigation in Kenya, with the country's Ad Hoc Committee now alleging that the company's actions "constituted acts of espionage and a threat to statehood."

The committee is also pushing for the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to investigate Tools for Humanity (TFH) Corp and Tools for Humanity (TFH) Gmbh, companies affiliated with Worldcoin.

The 15-member parliamentary committee, formed more than a month ago and tasked to investigate Worldcoin, said in the report submitted to the House last week that the actions of Worldcoin "constituted acts of espionage and a threat to statehood."

The report also revealed that Worldcoin started collecting data on Kenyan citizens on May 31, 2021, and it only applied for a data controller's license in the country in August 2022, violating the country's Data Protection Act of 2019.

"Worldcoin started collecting data in public places on May 31, 2021, and applied for registration as data controllers in Kenya on August 22, 2022, one year after commencing their activities in Kenya, contrary to the Data Protection Act of 2019," the committee said in its findings, according to a local news outlet.

Aside from the report, the committee recommended that the DCI start probing Tools for Humanity Corp and Tools for Humanity Gmbh.

The National Assembly also censured Information, Communication and the Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo for supposedly misleading Kenya on the actual status of Worldcoin in the country.

In early August, Kenya suspended all activities of the iris biometric cryptocurrency project while government agencies in the country evaluated its potential risk to public safety. A few days later, Kenyan authorities raided the company's warehouse in Nairobi and seized its machines and documents.

The supposed raid was executed after authorities conducted an investigation and discovered that Worldcoin failed to disclose its true intentions when it registered in Kenya, the country's Office of the Data Protection Commissioner Immaculate Kassait said.

In late August, Kenya formed an Ad Hoc committee to investigate Worldcoin.

Last month, Kenyan Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki claimed that U.S. authorities blocked the country from detaining Worldcoin Chief Executive Alex Blania and its chief legal counsel Thomas Scott.

As of 6:04 a.m. ET on Monday, WLD was trading up at $1.71, with a 24-hour trading volume up by 99.58% at $185,204,592, representing a 0.68% increase in the last 24 hours and a 2.8% gain over the past seven days.

Based on the latest data from CoinMarketCap, WLD's total circulating supply stands at 132,017,676 WLD, with its value up by 0.71% at a $225,350,083 market cap.