Busy week for Uniswap, and Platypus recovers 90% of hacked funds: Finance Redefined

October 20, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Uniswap announced it would start charging a swap fee of 15% from Oct. 17, evoking mixed reactions from the crypto community.

Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you the most significant developments from the past week.

The past week in DeFi was dominated by developments in the popular decentralized exchange platform Uniswap after it announced a 0.15% swap fee starting on Oct. 17, and an open-source hook on Uniswap generated controversy due to Know Your Customer (KYC) checks.

In other major DeFi developments, Platypus Finance managed to recover 90% of the funds it lost to an Oct. 12 exploit while the layer-2 zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) “Scroll” launched its mainnet.

The top 100 DeFi tokens by market capitalization had a bullish week thanks to Friday momentum in the market, with a majority of the tokens trading in green and recording double-digit gains on the weekly charts. However, the price action didn’t reflect on the total value locked (TVL), which fell by nearly $2 billion.

Ethereum LSDFi sector grew nearly 60x since January in post-Shapella surge: CoinGecko

The Ethereum liquid staking derivatives finance (LSDFi) ecosystem has seen a surge in growth this year as Ether (ETH) holders chose to stake rather than liquidate.

Despite ETH withdrawals being enabled with the Ethereum Shapella upgrade in April 2023, an Oct. 16 LSDFi report from crypto data aggregator CoinGecko said the sector has grown by 58.7x since January. By August 2023, LSD protocols accounted for 43.7% of the total 26.4 million ETH staked, with Lido having the lion’s share at almost a third of the total staked market.

Continue reading

Ethereum layer-2 zkEVM “Scroll” confirms mainnet launch

Scroll, a new contender in the zkEVM space that works to scale the blockchain, has confirmed the launch of its mainnet.

The team behind Scroll announced the launch in an Oct. 17 post and added that existing applications and developer tool kits on Ethereum can now migrate to the new scaling solution. “Everything functions right out of the box,” the Scroll team said.

Continue reading

Platypus Finance recovers 90% of assets lost in exploit

DeFi protocol Platypus Finance said it had recovered 90% of assets stolen in a security breach last week.

According to the Oct. 17 announcement, the protocol’s net loss was limited to 18,000 Avalanche (AVAX) worth $167,400 at the time. As the hacker voluntarily returned the funds, Platypus Finance stated it “will guarantee that no legal action will be pursued.” It also hinted that withdrawal information regarding users’ assets will soon be posted.

Continue reading

Uniswap charges 0.15% swap fees beginning Oct. 17

Decentralized exchange Uniswap began charging a 0.15% swap fee on certain tokens in its web application and wallet on Oct. 17.

According to a post by Uniswap founder Hayden Adams, the affected tokens are ETH, USD Coin (USDC), Wrapped Ether (wETH), Tether (USDT), Dai (DAI), Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), Angle Protocol’s agEUR, Gemini Dollar (GUSD), Liquidity USD (LUSD), Euro Coin (EUROC) and StraitsX Singapore Dollar (XSGD). Shortly after publication, a spokesperson for Uniswap reached out to Cointelegraph, stating that “both the input and output token need to be on the list for the fee to apply.”

Continue reading

KYC hook for Uniswap v4 stirs community controversy

A new hook available on an open-source directory for Uniswap v4 hooks is sparking controversy within the crypto community. The hook enables users to be checked for KYC before they can trade in token pools.

Criticizing the hook, a user on X (formerly Twitter) noted that the hook opens up the possibility of decentralized finance protocols being whitelisted by regulators.

Continue reading

DeFi market overview

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that DeFi’s top 100 tokens by market capitalization had a bullish week, with most tokens trading in the green on weekly charts. However, the total value locked into DeFi protocols dropped to $43.81 billion.

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.

TrueCoin’s third-party vendor breach potentially leaks TUSD user data

October 17, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

TrueCoin’s internal systems were not impacted or accessed, and the company confirmed that the attack was an isolated incident and limited to a third-party vendor.

The team behind stablecoin TrueUSD (TUSD) announced a potential leak of certain Know Your Customer (KYC) and transaction history data after one of TrueCoin’s third-party vendors was compromised.

TrueCoin was the operator of the TUSD stablecoin until July 13, 2023. On Oct. 16, a third-party vendor’s security team informed TrueCoin of “an anomalous account change within [TrueCoin’s] organization made by a compromised support vendor.” As a result, TrueCoin suspects the compromise of some of TUSD’s existing customer data.

TUSD team was informed by TrueCoin that they received a third-party vendor's notification that the vendor’s Security Team detected “an anomalous account change within [TrueCoin’s] organization made by a compromised support vendor.”
— TrueUSD (@tusdio) October 16, 2023

TrueCoin’s internal systems were not impacted or accessed, as the company confirmed the attack was an isolated incident on a third-party vendor. “TUSD system is SECURE and not attacked. Both TUSD system and TUSD’s reserves are UNAFFECTED,” affirmed TrueUSD through its official X (formerly Twitter) account.

Data collected from such breaches — names, email addresses and phone numbers, among others — are typically used for phishing attacks. Attackers reach out to unwary investors by mimicking various crypto services, often promising high profits in short amounts of time.

The impact of the attack and the resultant data leak is yet to be identified, as the total number of users’ data was not revealed during the announcement.

TrueUSD has not yet responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

TrueCoin recently distanced itself from Nevada-based Prime Trust right after the latter abruptly halted all fiat and cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals.

TrueUSD announced that “it is not affected by the situation” at Prime Trust while emphasizing its diversified partnerships and maintaining “multiple USD rails” elsewhere.

“PrimeTrust has suspended all deposits of fiat and digital assets. #TrueUSD (#TUSD) is not affected by this situation. We have no exposure to Prime Trust and maintain multiple USD rails for minting and redemption. Rest assured, all your funds are safe with TUSD,” TrueUSD stated.

Magazine: Beyond crypto: Zero-knowledge proofs show potential from voting to finance

KYC hook for Uniswap v4 stirs community controversy

October 15, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

A hook that enables Know Your Customer (KYC) verification on Uniswap V4 pools is fueling debates about DeFi's future.

A new hook available on an open-source directory for Uniswap V4 hooks is sparking controversy within the crypto community. The hook enables users to be checked for Know Your Customer (KYC) before they can trade on a pool.

Criticizing the hook, a user at X (formerly Twitter) noted that the hook opens up the possibility of decentralized finance protocols being whitelisted by regulators:

"As I explained in all my posts for the past year: It starts with “kyc option” for LPs. And then eventually it moves into a “regulator whitelist approved” database hosted offchain. And then non-kyc gets labeled as illegal terrorist money laundering. Stop simping for soyboys."

Essentially, a hook is a tool that allows developers to customize a code without altering the main structure of the program. In Uniswap V4, this hook will permit developers to use KYC verification within the decentralized finance protocol.

Financial institutions use KYC procedures to authenticate customer identities and assess associated risks. A primary goal of KYC is to detect money laundering and terrorist financing activities.

*KYC hook code available on GitHub. Source: GitHub*

The KYC hook was rolled out by a community developer on Uniswap V4's directory as an opt-in functionality. The KYC verification is carried out by a nonfungible token (NFT). According to another X user, the hook is specific for liquidity providers and may be useful for projects that must comply with regulatory requirements in certain jurisdictions:

"Seems like you don't understand how this works. #1 it's lp specific. Some projects may want to operate within the legal confines of jurisdiction. #2 hooks can be made by community devs. You're trashing something that has done more than anyone else for "real defi"."

Governments around the world are taking a closer look at DeFi protocols and transactions. Recently, the group of twenty worlds' largest economies, G20, accepted a crypto regulatory roadmap proposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) tightening crypto regulations.

Uniswap V4 introduces customizable hooks and is expected to be available in early 2024, with access limited to governance-approved entities.

Magazine: Recursive inscriptions — Bitcoin ‘supercomputer’ and BTC DeFi coming soon

OKX exec says KYC will ‘raise the bar,’ bring real capital into crypto: Blockchain Economy Dubai 2023

October 6, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Blockchain

Lennix Lai, OKX’s global chief commercial officer, told Cointelegraph that bringing traditional finance investors into the space would require raising compliance standards.

While some areas of the crypto space focus on privacy and anonymity, others focus on raising the standards within the space and on bringing in traditional players and more capital in the world of digital assets.

At the recent Blockchain Economy Summit held in Dubai, Cointelegraph spoke with Lennix Lai, the global chief commercial officer at crypto exchange OKX. During the interview, the executive discussed several topics, including the differences between working in traditional finance and crypto, how OKX handled the wave of exchanges implementing mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) checks and how the exchange navigates the rapidly changing regulatory landscape.

Lai and Cointelegraph’s Ezra Reguerra at the Blockchain Economy Summit in Dubai. Source: Joanna Alhambra

According to Lai, crypto is “a lot more fun” than traditional finance. Lai, who previously worked in traditional firms, said there are many processes in the old finance world that he believes are inefficient. He explained:

“It’s relatively difficult to innovate in traditional finance. In crypto, it’s a lot better and more efficient. And in terms of cost, it is a lot more cheap. So, you can see the pace is a lot faster, and we can serve an even bigger audience than traditional finance right now.”

When problems arose, the executive said that there was lots of internal and external friction before being able to fix problems in traditional finance, even when the solutions were obvious. Furthermore, Lai said there are also regulatory aspects to consider before coming up with solutions.

When it comes to crypto, Lai told Cointelegraph that regulators share almost the same guidelines and expectations as they share the goal of protecting the consumer. The executive said that navigating different regulations from various jurisdictions across the world requires extensive research and mapping out the different requirements.

Lai delivering his keynote speech at the Blockchain Economy Summit Dubai event. Source: Cointelegraph

“Different level of requirement, different level of regulation. But I think all the regulators share similar guidelines and expectations. For example, they want to protect the customer, they want to monitor the trade, they want customer segregation,” he said.

When asked about OKX following the trend of bringing mandatory KYC to its exchange, Lai said there is a need to “raise the bar” in crypto, similar to traditional finance. According to the executive, this will bring what he described as “the real capital and the main money” to the space. He explained:

“That’s how we grow the real market, because if ever your compliance standard cannot meet or somehow talking in the same language with traditional finance, they can never, despite of their interest, despite of our innovation, invest or bring in capital to the space.”

According to Lai, KYC is the first level and the first step to trying to raise the compliance standard in the space so that it can welcome other players in the world of finance.

Magazine: $3M OKX airdrop, 1-hour due diligence on 3AC, Binance AI — Asia Express

UK must loosen KYC demands for crypto to outpace US in Web3 — Think tank

October 6, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Policy Exchange published its report on Web3 containing 10 proposals for the U.K. government.

The United Kingdom has an opportunity to capitalize on the departure of Web3 firms leaving the United States due to regulatory uncertainty. But to achieve that, the U.K. will need to follow its own regulatory path, smoothing the requirements for crypto in some regard, according to a think tank.

On Oct. 2, the influential conservative think tank Policy Exchange published a report on Web3 with 10 proposals for the U.K. government, which it claims would help the country improve Web3 regulation.

One proposal made in the report is limiting the liabilities of individuals who hold tokens in a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The report cites a negative example of a recent ruling in the U.S. that makes any individual American who owns or previously owned tokens in a DAO liable for any violations of the law the DAO commits.

The report also suggests the principal U.K. financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), loosens its current Know Your Customer (KYC) approach, allowing for the use of “alternative and innovative techniques,” such as digital identities and blockchain analytics tools.

The experts say the U.K. should avoid undermining self-hosted wallets and regulating proof-of-stake services as a financial service. Among other proposals are allowing private stablecoin issuers to place stablecoin reserves in the Bank of England, creating a “tax wrapper” for the crypto exchange and creating a new sandbox under the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Recently, U.K. regulators have taken a more stringent approach to the digital assets industry. His Majesty’s Treasury is considering banning all cold calls promoting crypto investments, and the FCA has warned local crypto businesses to follow its marketing rules or face consequences.

Bitget mandates KYC requirements in line with tightening global regulations

August 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitget

The exchange operator is instituting new KYC requirements for users from September 2023 to comply with developing global regulatory guidelines.

Seychelles-based cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Bitget is updating its Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements for users to stay in step with global regulatory guidelines.

According to the company, the new KYC requirements are being instituted to protect user rights and interests, shape a secure cryptocurrency trading environment and comply with regulatory recommendations from various global watchdogs.

BitGet will adjust its KYC verification requirements from September 2023, with newly registered users required to complete level 1 KYC verification to access a variety of Bitget’s services including deposits and trading of cryptocurrencies.

*Bitget's updated KYC mandate. Source: Bitget*

Users that signed up to the platform before Sept. 1 are required to complete KYC verification by Oct. 1, 2023. The derivatives exchange notes that users that have not completed the process through September will still be able to deposit, withdraw and trade.

However from October onwards users that have not carried out the KYC verification process will be limited to withdrawals, cancel orders, redeem subscriptions and closing positions and will be restricted from being able to create new trading orders.

Bitget also noted that it would follow through with KYC procedures to verify customers identities for risk assessment purposes in line with a majority of mainstream financial institutions and regulated organizations.

The Seychelles-based platform is the latest exchange to announce that it would be updating its KYC policy.

KuCoin instituted similar requirements in July 2023, introducing mandatory identity checks for all new users to align with global anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. Users that failed to complete KYC checks are unable to access KuCoin’s services and products. KuCoin users are required to provide their names, ID numbers, ID photo and complete a facial recognition process.

OKX is also requiring users to carry out a KYC process to verify identities, with a similar deadline to Bitget in September. The three step process mirrors that of KuCoin, while users that fail to carry out the verification process would be unable to access OKX’s services from the Sept. 21.

Magazine: ‘Elegant and ass-backward’: Jameson Lopp’s first impression of Bitcoin

UK crypto businesses to comply with FATF Travel Rule beginning in September

August 17, 2023 Coin Telegraph

AML

The U.K. passed legislation in 2022 to make it one of the few countries in compliance with the extension of the Travel Rule to crypto.

Crypto asset businesses in the United Kingdom will be required to comply with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing rules, known collectively as the Travel Rule, beginning Sept. 1, a statement from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) reiterated Aug. 17. This will bring the U.K. into conformity with FATF standards set in 2019.

The Travel Rule requires virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to share customer information when making transfers to help identify suspicious transactions. The U.K. passed legislation to begin enforcing the Travel Rule in July 2022.

U.K. crypto businesses will be expected to implement the Travel Rule fully by Sept. 1 when sending or receiving crypto assets in the U.K. or jurisdictions that have already implemented the rule. Businesses will be responsible for compliance when using third-party vendors as well.

The Travel Rule is designed to bring greater transparency to cryptoasset transfers, making it harder for criminals to use #crypto for illegal activity.https://t.co/kmB6rgMn5e
— Financial Conduct Authority (@TheFCA) August 17, 2023

When transacting with VASPs in jurisdictions that have not implemented the Travel Rule, the originating U.K. business must take steps to determine if the recipient is capable of receiving the required information in any way and to collect and store the information in any case. When a U.K. crypto business is the recipient of a transfer, it will be required to use discretion:

*FCA instructions on Travel Rule implementation. Source: U.K. Financial Conduct Authority*

The FATF, an intergovernmental task force established by the G7 in 1989, created the Travel Rule in 2012 for traditional financial institutions and extended the rule to VASPs in 2019. It has reported limited progress with its implementation, saying in June that less than half of the countries it had surveyed had taken any steps to implement the rule. A survey conducted in 2022 found that 29 of 98 countries had passed legislation on the rule, but only 11 were enforcing it.

Crypto asset businesses in the U.K. are facing a growing number of regulatory requirements. New FCA marketing standards come into force in October. The FCA published a consultative paper on comprehensive crypto regulation in February.

Magazine: Should we ban ransomware payments? It’s an attractive but dangerous idea

Identity checks on crypto exchanges at risk as AI deepfakes evolve

August 9, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Binance

Once HeyGen’s AI-generated digital avatar is available to the public, users will be able to create a video with a real life-like digital avatar in just two minutes.

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has been subject to growing concerns over identity verification tools on cryptocurrency exchanges.

With rapidly evolving AI technology, the process of creating deepfake proofs of identity is becoming easier than ever. The concerns about AI-enabled risks in crypto have triggered some prominent industry executives to speak out on the matter.

Changpeng Zhao, CEO and founder of major global crypto exchange Binance, took to X (formerly Twitter) on Aug. 9 to raise the alarm on the use of AI in crypto by bad actors.

“This is pretty scary from a video verification perspective. Don’t send people coins even if they send you a video,” Zhao wrote.

This is pretty scary from a video verification perspective. Don't send people coins even if they send you a video... ‍♂️ https://t.co/jvjZGHihku
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) August 9, 2023

Like many other crypto exchanges, Binance’s internal Know Your Customer (KYC) processes require crypto investors to submit video evidence for processing certain transactions.

*Binance requires video evidence of the user for certain withdrawal of funds. Source: Binance*

Binance CEO referred to an AI-generated video featuring HeyGen co-founder and CEO Joshua Xu. The video specifically included Xu’s AI-generated avatar, which looks just like the real HeyGen CEO and reproduces his facial expressions as well as voice and speech patterns.

“Both of these video clips were 100% AI-generated, featuring my own avatar and voice clone,” Xu noted. He added that HeyGen has been progressing with some massive enhancements to its life-style avatar’s video quality and voice technology to mimic his unique accent and speech patterns.

“This will be soon deployed to production and everyone can try it out,” Xu added.

Once available to the public, the AI tool will allow anyone to create a real life-like digital avatar in just “two minutes,” the HeyGen CEO said.

The public exposure to AI generation tools like HeyGen could potentially cause serious identity verification issues for cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance. Like many other exchanges, Binance practices KYC measures involving a requirement to send a video featuring the user and certain documents to get access to services or even to withdraw funds from the platform.

Binance’s statement video specifically requires users to submit the video along with the picture of their identity document, such an ID card, driver’s license or passport. The policy requires users to mention the date and certain requests on the video record.

“Please do not put watermarks on your videos and do not edit your videos,” the policy reads.

Binance chief security officer Jimmy Su previously warned about AI deepfake-associated risks as well. In late May, Su argued that AI tech is getting so advanced that AI deepfakes may soon become undetectable by a human verifier.

Binance and HeyGen did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment. This article will be updated pending new information.

Magazine: AI Eye: AI’s trained on AI content go MAD, is Threads a loss leader for AI data?

Paypal USD: Boon for Ethereum but not decentralization, says community

August 8, 2023 Coin Telegraph

BUSD

Proponents say PayPal’s PYUSD could see Ethereum become the money layer of the internet, while opponents argue that it’ll act like a poorly designed CBDC.

Paypal’s new Ethereum-based stablecoin, PYUSD has been seen as bittersweet news for the crypto community.

While it could finally see Ethereum find its place in mainstream adoption, it could also spell trouble for decentralization and personal control of assets, warns the community.

The new stablecoin, Paypal USD, was launched on Aug. 7 and is issued by Paxos Trust Co. — the firm behind Binance USD (BUSD). It’s built on Ethereum and “designed for digital payments and Web3,” with the firm saying it will soon be available to United States customers.

The launch has been seen as a boon for Ethereum adoption. Ethereum bulls Anthony Sassano and Ryan Sean Adams believe the ERC-20 stablecoin will push the blockchain closer towards becoming the money layer of the internet.

This is the Ethereum contract address for PayPal's stablecoin.

I can't believe i get to tweet that.

We've come so far. pic.twitter.com/S6kSqcV4ut
— RYAN SΞAN ADAMS - rsa.eth (@RyanSAdams) August 7, 2023

The number of daily active users on Ethereum currently hovers between 300,000-400,000, according to Etherscan.

However, Sean Adams noted that 430 million accounts actively use the online payment processor, which means that over 5% of the world’s 8 billion people could theoretically be onboarded onto Ethereum through PayPal’s new stablecoin.

Martin Koppelmann, the CEO and co-founder of Gnosis, added that by launching PYUSD on Ethereum’s base layer, Ethereum layer-2s will be able to interact with PYUSD too.

Others, including lawmakers, have seen it as another example of larger institutions embracing crypto, breathing new life into the traditional payments system.

In an Aug. 7 statement, Patrick McHenry, Chair of the United States House Committee on Financial Services said stablecoins like PayPal’s PYUSD “hold promise as a pillar of our 21st century payments system.”

#NEW: Chairman @PatrickMcHenry releases a statement following the announcement of PayPal's payment stablecoin launch.

Read more https://t.co/LOF9ayUNnG pic.twitter.com/sRfSfLYbXQ
— Financial Services GOP (@FinancialCmte) August 7, 2023

However, not everyone is convinced about PayPal’s new stablecoin.

Several smart contract auditors highlighted that PYUSD’s smart contract contains a 'freezefunds' and 'wipefrozenfunds' function which they claim is a textbook example of a centralization attack vector in Solidity contracts.

The new Paypal USD stablecoin has an "assetProtection" role which can wipe your balance in two transactions (first `freeze`, then `wipeFrozenAddress`)

In smart contract security we call this a "centralisation attack vector" pic.twitter.com/RsmqvsnKvi
— pashov (@pashovkrum) August 7, 2023

This concern was echoed by cryptocurrency researcher Chris Blec, who believes that PayPal will use the controversial functions where necessary.

Digital asset lawyer Sarah Hodder believes many characteristics of PayPal’s stablecoin resemble that of a censorship-enabled central bank digital currency. Another smart contract auditor noted that PYUSD’s smart contract can be changed by PayPal at any time.

I just read the PayPal USD terms of service.

- full KYC
- custody by Paxos
- tied to your PayPal login
- PayPal can reverse any transaction
- claimed to be fully backed by actual USD

All the censorship capabilities of a CBDC, but launched by big tech instead of the gov't.
— Sasha Hodder (@sashahodler) August 7, 2023

In October, PayPal was slammed for a controversial policy that could’ve seen users fined $2,500 for spreading “misinformation.” The firm later backpedalled, claiming the policy update was published “in error.”

Meanwhile, Blockchain engineer Patrick Collins took a slightly more neutral view, suggesting that PayPal’s PYUSD could have been “epic” but believes some of the engineering choices were suboptimal — such as choosing an outdated version of Solidity to program the contract, making the contract upgradeable and not making it gas efficient.

Sassano also explained in a separate post that while PayPal's stablecoin is centralized, Ethereum users are free to choose whether they wish to use it or not.

Yes, PayPal's stablecoin is centralized.

No, that doesn't make it any less cool that PayPal has a stablecoin.

Ethereum being a settlement layer for all types of value means that different types of assets will exist on the network & you get to choose which ones you want to use.
— sassal.eth (@sassal0x) August 8, 2023

PayPal said PYUSD will be rolled out within the next few weeks.

ETH is currently priced at $1,825 which is approximately the same price at the time of PayPal’s announcement about 10 hours ago, according to CoinGecko. Only minor fluctuations have been observed in ETH’s price since then.

Magazine: DeFi Dad, Hall of Flame: Ethereum is ‘woefully undervalued’ but growing more powerful

Worldcoin rebuts reports of lackluster takeup as Altman cites Japan queues

July 27, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

A video shared by Worldcoin co-founder Sam Altman shows a long queue of people in Japan reportedly waiting to collect $50 worth of Worldcoin (WLD) tokens or 25 WLD.

Amid discussions around the falling interest in Worldcoin —the blockchain project dedicated to building a user identity network — its co-founder Sam Altman shared a video that shows people in Japan lined up to give away their iris scans in exchange for “free” Worldcoin (WLD) tokens.

A video shared by Altman shows a long queue of people in Japan reportedly waiting to collect $50 worth of Worldcoin (WLD) tokens or 25 WLD. In exchange, the users are required to provide their identification through an iris scan.

day 3 of @worldcoin launch, crazy lines around the world. one person getting verified every 8 seconds now. pic.twitter.com/vHRu1sWMT3
— Sam Altman (@sama) July 26, 2023

“One person getting verified every 8 seconds now,” wrote Altman as he shared the video of people lining up for the Orb. However, Worldcoin has not yet responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment to confirm the accuracy of the information shared on Twitter (rebranded to X).

As explained in the Worldcoin introductory letter, the Orb is a biometric verification device that provides a World ID to users upon successful biometric data collection. The company plans to set up Orb venues worldwide to expedite the onboarding process on a global scale.

While Japanese investors seemingly showed a greater interest in Worldcoin, not many Hong Kongers shared the same enthusiasm. As Cointelegraph reported, the three Orbs in Hong Kong cumulatively reported just 200 sign-ups on the first day and 600 in total.

Although on the surface, Worldcoin sign-ups seem like a step forward toward crypto adoption, entrepreneurs, including Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin believe the proposed system would be catastrophic if it were to work against the ethos — privacy, accessibility, decentralization — that the crypto ecosystem was founded on.

Worldcoin may face resistance from the data regulators in the United Kingdom, as the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) reportedly raised concerns over privacy and critical biometric data safety.

However, an ICO spokesperson said they “have not announced anything publicly to confirm or deny if we are looking into Worldcoin. Until then, I would not be able to pass comments.”

Collect this article as an NFT to preserve this moment in history and show your support for independent journalism in the crypto space.

Magazine: ‘Elegant and ass-backward’: Jameson Lopp’s first impression of Bitcoin

KYC

Ethereum LSDFi sector grew nearly 60x since January in post-Shapella surge: CoinGecko

Ethereum layer-2 zkEVM “Scroll” confirms mainnet launch

Platypus Finance recovers 90% of assets lost in exploit

Uniswap charges 0.15% swap fees beginning Oct. 17

KYC hook for Uniswap v4 stirs community controversy

DeFi market overview

Share this video