Worldcoin, the brainchild of OpenAI’s Sam Altman, made its official entrance into the world of cryptocurrencies in July. At first, things went smoothly as the euphoria from the launch grew. But this would only be short-lived because regulators began to pay close attention to Worldcoin’s data collection activities. In the last couple of weeks, regulators in various jurisdictions have brought Worldcoin under a microscope, significantly impacting the price of its native token, WLD.
Regulatory Concerns Engulfs Worldcoin
Not too long after its launch, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin first raised alarm about Worldcoin’s technology. According to Buterin, there were major privacy and security concerns, highlighting that user data collected using Worldcoin’s orbs could be prone to abuse.
Following this, reports emerged of some people getting less technologically savvy residents to scan their iris at Kenyan orb locations and then paying them one-third of the 25 WLD token rewards for doing so. In light of this, the Kenyan government launched a crackdown on the firm, leading to a temporary pause of its activities in the country.
Worldcoin’s problems didn’t end there as Germany’s Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision (BayLDA) also launched an investigation. The regulator’s concern centered on Worldcoin’s data processing practices and how it was transferring information.
Most recently, the company has come under fire in Argentina where regulators are currently investigating its operations in the country. This is in addition to regulators in the United Kingdom and France also questioning Worldcoin’s data handling practices.
Can WLD Price Recover From This?
In light of the increased regulatory scrutiny around Worldcoin, its native WLD token has naturally suffered. WLD’s price has been on a consistent decline following its initial price pump on launch day, falling double-digits in the last few weeks.
With so many investigations into the activities of the company, it is likely that this downtrend will continue. And if lawsuits were to result from these investigations, then WLD price could suffer the same fate as XRP following the SEC lawsuit back in 2020.
Interestingly, the daily trading volume of WLD is up 44% in the last day. This signals growing interest in the coin which could lead to a price recovery. But such a recovery would only be short-lived as long as the uncertainties surrounding Worldcoin remain.
Over the last 24 hours, the price of WLD has fallen 6.79% to trade at 1.7 at the time of this writing. It is recording losses of 25.64% on the weekly chart, but meager gains of 1.72% on the 30-day chart.
WLD price tanks following regulatory scrutiny | Source: WLDUSDT on Tradingview.com