The controversial crypto project Worldcoin was launched for the public on July 24, making way for customers to scan their iris at designated locations in 20 countries and receive 25 WLD, the native token of the project.
The project debuted on the back of 2 million pre-sign-ups, but interest seems to have faded following the actual launch. On the first day, users seemed excited, with Hong Kong seeing the highest number of sign-ups. The city offered three designated spots called Orbs, where users have their irises scanned and are offered a “World ID.”
According to a report published by South China Morning Post, the three designated locations in Hong Kong each saw about 200 sign-ups on the first day, for a total of 600 overall.
Heatherm Huang, who co-founded a company operating one of the Orbs, said that the total number of sign-ups accounted for nearly half of the total number Worldcoin saw across all its new markets.
With 600 sign-ups representing nearly half of all the new registrations, the total first-day sign-ups across all sites can be estimated at least 1,200.
Cointelegraph reached out to Worldcoin to confirm the precise number of sign-ups but has not yet received a response.
Related: Worldcoin confirms it is the cause of mysterious Safe deployments
The stark contrast in the number of sign-ups before and after the launch suggests a lack of enthusiasm. However, the early on-boards also proved controversial, with one MIT report suggesting that the developers behind the project attracted the first million using deception, cash handouts and more, especially in developing countries where data laws are notably weak.
Worldcoin has drawn scrutiny and commentary from many well-known names in the crypto community, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. In its defense, the project has maintained that it doesn’t collect personal information and can delete the biometric data upon user request.
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