Kenyan Police Raids Worldcoin Warehouse in Nairobi

Sam Altman’s crypto venture clearly isn’t going as planned. Reports indicate that Kenyan police have conducted a raid on Worldcoin’s warehouse in Nairobi. Law enforcement officers visited the company’s offices on Mombasa Road, with a search warrant. They departed with machines suspected to contain the data collected by the firm during the verification process.

On August 5th, a team of law enforcement officers, accompanied by officials from multiple agencies, conducted a raid on the company. Following the raid, the police team transported the seized data to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters for further analysis.

This action follows the suspension of Worldcoin’s operations in Kenya by the government. This decision was prompted by the project’s registration of more than 350,000 individuals in the region. The government stated that the suspension was aimed at scrutinizing the authenticity and legality of the activities associated with the verification process.

The government’s latest move was seen being justified. Data Commissioner Immaculate Kassait stated that Tools for Humanity, the parent company of Worldcoin, failed to disclose its genuine motives while going through the registration procedure.

Also Read: Kenya Suspends Worldcoin Project After 350,000 Sign-Ups

Worldcoin records surge in activity

In the midst of regulatory issues, the Worldcoin project experienced a significant surge in its activities. The official blog of the network reported that there was a more than 100% rise in weekly global World ID verifications in the week after Worldcoin transitioned from beta launch. This sharp increase in demand indicated a substantial uptick in interest. The project further wrote,

“What’s noteworthy here is that the rate of World ID verifications had already doubled once in 2023. Between January and July, World ID sign-ups went from one million to two million in less than half the time it took to reach the first million. Last week’s 2X growth in weekly World ID sign-ups demonstrates a sustained increase in global demand for World ID as a standalone product.”

Nonetheless, the situation wasn’t entirely positive for the project, as a number of users encountered difficulties. A subset of users attempting to use the project’s World App encountered messages. These included ‘Data retrieval unsuccessful’ and ‘Will be back soon.’ Therefore, Worldcoin took to Twitter to notify its users.

Also Read: Worldcoin Security Vulnerability Uncovered by CertiK