World Coin: A Cybersecurity Disaster in Disguise

Worldcoin is the latest buzzword in the cryptocurrency world that has raised more questions and concerns with no actual realizable benefit in sight. 

Unlike other cryptos such as Bitcoin and Ether that are readily exchangeable into major conventional currencies, Worldcoin has no real-world value, despite being highly advertised as the next-generation cryptocurrency capable of disrupting global currency systems. 

Despite being touted as the solution to the global financial system, several reports reveal disturbing facts about the famous ‘cryptocurrency’ that could make the entire idea a hoax of the 21st century. 

Introduced in 2019 by Sam H. Altmanthe, CEO of OpenAI, which owns the world’s famous AI-based chatbot known as the ChatGPT, the digital currency system uses an iris scan to create a unique digital identity, which is then used to sign-up participants to the currency. 

The company also launched an app in May 2023 to facilitate frictionless payments and currency transfers based on world coin tokens when it becomes operational later this year. 

Worldcoin currency system uses a spherical robotic head known as a world coin orb to take a world coin scan, which is then used to generate an iris hash— a worldwide digital ID, known as World ID for each participant. The IDs are then stored in a database. 

Concerns about Worldcoin

While world coin recently recruited half a million users, potential users and experts have raised legitimate data security and economic concerns about the entire project, whose users largely come from Europe, Asia, and Africa. 

Empty Promises

According to a report published by BuzzFeed News, the promoters of the digital currency promised to offer volunteer users and recruiters many things, including free crypto worth $20 if they successfully went through the entire signup process, which involves getting their eyeballs scanned with the world coin orb. 

However, the promises were never fulfilled entirely, with other recruiters reporting delayed, reduced, or non-payments of their dues after the recruitment exercise, a tactic only used by fraudsters. Additionally, worldcoin currently has no real-world value, therefore, is not exchangeable on any conventional platform worldwide.  

Risk of Systems Manipulation and Censorship

Unlike other decentralized global cryptocurrencies immune to external interferences, Worldcoin is mainly centralized, making it vulnerable to manipulation by governments,  inventors, and third-party interference. 

The centralized structure also makes the currency vulnerable to censorship by authorities, with no guarantee that the world coin iris scan data will be securely stored and never used for undisclosed or purposes not authorized by the users. 

Although the entrepreneurs behind the project have kept assuring the public that the biometric data collected using the World coin orb will not be used for purposes other than creating a digital identity, the project is shrouded in secrecy, making it difficult for potential users to scrutinize and make a sound decision.  

The secret and centralized system raises a red flag amongst privacy enthusiasts over the opportunities in the future and the potential abuse of the data collected from people using world coin orb. 

Risks of Data Breaches and Identity Theft

Despite boasting a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure, world coin has recently come under continuous cyberattacks by malware that threatens institutions and individual users, allowing malicious actors access to sensitive personal identification and financial transaction data that hackers can misuse, sell to third parties on the dark web, use to cause financial ruin. 

TechCrunch recently reported that hackers could install password-collecting malware on  Worldcoin operators managing the company’s biometric assets. 

In a separate incident, Worldcoin also acknowledged hundreds of fraud cases involving its World ID, a  digital passport for World Coin users, where several World IDs were sent to a third-party app on the dark web. 

Bottom Line 

With all the critical concerns discussed in this article, Worldcoin may look like a perfect solution for a global financial system, but behind it lies a troubling reality. 

From a centralized and secretly organized system, to widespread malware attacks that allow for the exploitation of users’ personal data,  and theft of World IDs, world coin could be a perfect avenue for global fraudsters to wreak havoc on unsuspecting users. 

As such, anyone considering signing up for the currency should be aware of the serious data security concerns associated with the platform before seating in front of the world coin orb for a world coin iris scan.