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Singapore Investigating Seven People for Providing Worldcoin Services

  • Singapore is investigating seven people offering Worldcoin services.
  • Worldcoin has already faced regulatory scrutiny in Colombia , Hong Kong , Argentina and Kenya .

Singapore is investigating seven "subjects" for offering services of buying or selling of Worldcoin accounts and tokens which is an offense, a written reply in parliament by the government revealed on Tuesday.

OpenAI founder Sam Altman has founded the retina-scanning crypto startup, Worldcoin.

Two Singapore Ministers of Parliaments, Rachel Ong and Derrick Goh raised questions about whether the sale of Worldcoin in the country has any regulations supporting it or any risks associated with it.

Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry, and Chairman of Monetary Authority of Singapore responded to say that while Worldcoin does not perform a payment service under Singapore regulations, people buying or selling Worldcoin accounts and tokens may be acting illegally by providing a payment service as unlicensed individuals.

On Aug. 7, Singapore's police warned the public against giving away or selling their Worldcoin accounts or tokens for fear of it being used for criminal activities.

Worldcoin has already faced regulatory scrutiny in Colombia , Hong Kong , Argentina and Kenya .

"Neither Worldcoin nor Tools for Humanity are under investigation by police in Singapore. Individuals being investigated by authorities for possible violation of the Payment Services Act are not affiliated with Worldcoin or its operations in any way," a spokesperson for Tools for Humanity said in a statement.

"The Worldcoin Foundation in Singapore, and around the world, operates in compliance with relevant laws and regulations pertaining to all aspects of the Worldcoin project including the Payment Services Act in Singapore. Any reports or speculation to the contrary are false and misleading."

Read More: Sam Altman’s Layer-2 Blockchain Project, World Chain, Opens to Developers

UPDATE (Sept. 11, 14:28 UTC): Adds Tools for Humanity statement in last two paragraphs.