Sam Altman-Founded Worldcoin's Suspension Extended In Spain, Crypto Plunges 55% Since March Peak

The ban on Worldcoin WLD/USD, a blockchain-based identity verification project, has been extended until the end of 2024 in Spain.

What Happened: Tools for Humanity, a project contributor, has voluntarily extended the suspension of Worldcoin orb operations in Spain, The Block reported. Worldcoin’s activities will remain suspended until the end of this year or until the completion of the GDPR audit by the Bavarian Data Protection Authority, the regulatory body overseeing the project throughout the EU.

The Worldcoin project, backed by Tools for Humanity, is designed to establish a system where individuals can authenticate their humanity. Participants receive WLD tokens as a reward for having their eyeballs scanned by a Worldcoin orb, which creates a World ID that verifies their personhood.

 The Spanish Data Protection Authority ordered Worldcoin to halt its operations in March, a decision that was legally challenged by Tools for Humanity. However, the ban was upheld by the Spanish National Court.

Why It Matters: The ban extension reflects persistent issues with the novel project, which was launched by OpenAI Chief Sam Altman last year.

In May, Worldcoin was asked to shut down all its operations in Hong Kong due to risks to personal data privacy. Prior to this, it was banned in Portugal and Kenya.

The project collects people’s irises to authenticate their humanness and creates a digital ID, thereby making them eligible to receive free WLD tokens. However, this process has raised privacy concerns worldwide.

Price Action: WLD slipped 0.33% in the last 24 hours to trade at $4.79 as of this writing, according to data from Benzinga Pro. The coin's value has halved since peaking in early March.

Photo courtesy: Worldcoin

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.