Worldcoin launches Orb locations in Singapore

According to the website, Singaporeans can be verified at five locations

article-image

Robert Way/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Worldcoin, the crypto project co-created by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, announced that it’s expanding to Singapore.

“After the successful launch of World ID 2.0 and the open sourcing of the Worldcoin iris recognition pipeline in mid December, World ID verifications are now available in Singapore via the Orb, the project’s custom hardware device.”

People in Singapore can now access the project’s Orb, the iris-scanning device, in five locations. 

In addition to Singapore, World ID verifications are now available in Sevilla and Bilbao. 

“In South America, access to World ID verifications in Chile has recently expanded to Concepcion, Curico and Viña del Mar (joining Santiago), and Argentina just set a new national record with over 10K verifications in a single day. Across the Pacific in Japan, the city of Fukuoka on Kyushu Island joins new locations in Tokyo available for proof of personhood verification via World ID,” a blog post announcing the expansion said.

Read more: Worldcoin is not what we meant by making crypto mainstream

However, the company paused its services in India, France and Brazil, according to a report from TechCrunch.

“World App continues to experience broad adoption in India where thousands download the app each week. Orb-verified proof of personhood services have been temporarily scaled back as the protocol works to develop and roll out a bespoke, safe and orderly process that sufficiently meets the demand for World ID in India,” the Worldcoin Foundation told Blockworks.

Sources close to Worldcoin told Blockworks that the project hopes to relaunch in India in 2024.

Earlier in December, the company announced World ID 2.0, expanding on its “proof of personhood.”

The upgrade will bring “Apps, Levels, and a series of core improvements” to the protocol launched earlier this year.

The apps, according to a post announcing the upgrade earlier this month, work on certain services that allow for World ID integration, including Reddit, Discord, Shopify, among others.

The project has faced criticism since its launch, with reports in August claiming that German regulators have been eyeing the project since 2022. French officials questioned the legality of collecting biometric data following its launch. 

Back in July, Blockworks opinion editor Molly Jane Zuckerman documented her experience of getting her iris biometrics scanned.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

recent research

LTIPPanalysis.png

Research

This report is a retroactive analysis of Arbitrum's Long Term Incentives Pilot Program (LTIPP). We collect relevant data at a protocol level and review bi-weekly updates to analyze recipients, their strategies, and the impact of the incentives on high level growth metrics. In particular, we want to highlight outperformers and underperformers, and glean any best practices or lessons learned for protocols distributing ARB incentives in the future. The overarching goal is to synthesize lessons learned that the DAO can reference as it begins thinking about future incentives programs–namely, the working group for incentives that is being actively discussed–especially as Timeboost introduces new conditions for trading and economic activity.

article-image

Sponsored

AI project Zerebro intersects the spheres of artificial intelligence, finance, art, music, and culture

article-image

Allmight is focused on furthering the United States’ leadership in crypto

article-image

The conditions Charles Schwab is waiting for before jumping headfirst into crypto could take shape soon

article-image

The FCA’s director of payments and digital assets shared some takeaways from chats with crypto companies and law firms

article-image

Let’s take a look at how US equities typically perform this time of year and what we might see in the coming days

article-image

Lumina introduces transparency and permissionless integration via an OP stack-based optimium, challenging traditional oracle designs