Iris-Scanning Worldcoin Token Gets Malaysian Regulator’s Nod

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Sujha Sundararajan

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Sujha Sundararajan

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May 15, 2024 05:26 EDT

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The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), the country’s regulator, has approved the trading of the Worldcoin (WLD) token on digital asset exchanges recognized by the SC.

Malaysia-based digital business solutions provider Cuscapi announced the move that its associate company MX Global received the approval on May 9, to facilitate trading of WLD token.

In March 2022, MX Global had obtained an unspecified equity investment from cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

The token joins as the 14^th among the list of permitted digital assets to be traded in the country. Some of the permitted cryptos include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), Polygon (MATIC) and Solana (SOL).

The news arrives a month after Worldcoin executives met with top Malaysian officials, discussing the token’s strategic expansion. Alex Blania, the lead developer of Worldcoin and the co-founder and CEO of Tools of Humanity attended the meeting with key Malaysian government leaders.

Before the physical meeting, both Blania and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had a 30-minute virtual discussion via video conference with the Malaysian government. They touched on several aspects related to the rapid development of technology.

According to post by the Malaysian President Anwar Ibrahim, Altman and Blania elaborated on the development of the Worldcoin project. They discussed its focus on creating a global and inclusive financial network, prioritizing confidentiality

Regulatory Uncertainty and Privacy Concerns Still Loom on Worldcoin

The Worldcoin initiative sparked privacy apprehensions across various nations. In March, CNPD, Portugal’s data oversight authority, issued a directive, instructing WLD to pause biometric data collection for 90 days.

The CNPD cited that WLD involved a significant risk to citizens’ data protection rights, demanding immediate action to avert harm.

However, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has a different view on this eye-ball scanning digital token. Recently, he acknowledged Worldcoin’s efforts to secure user data privacy.

He said that Sam Altman has performed “quite a good job” in implementing cryptographic measures to ensure data confidentiality.

“In my opinion they actually have been doing quite a good job of taking the privacy critiques seriously,” Buterin noted.