Jakarta, May 5, 2025 — Indonesian authorities have suspended operations of Worldcoin, the controversial cryptocurrency project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, amid growing international scrutiny over its handling of biometric data.
Launched in 2023, Worldcoin encourages users to scan their irises to create a unique “World ID” — a digital identity designed to verify that a user is human and to enable secure crypto transactions. While the company claims the biometric data is securely encrypted, the initiative has faced regulatory backlash in several countries, including Hong Kong, Kenya, Spain, and Portugal, over privacy and data protection concerns.
The Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Information announced the suspension on Sunday, citing public complaints about suspicious activity linked to the platform.
“This freezing is a preventive measure to protect the public from potential risks,” said Alexander Sabar, the ministry’s Director General for Digital Space Supervision.
Authorities have also summoned Worldcoin’s local partners, PT Terang Bulan Abadi and PT Sandina Abadi Nusantara, for further clarification about their operations in the country.
Worldcoin’s mission is to tackle identity verification challenges in the cryptocurrency world, where pseudonymity often leads to spam, fraud, and bot activity. However, its approach — involving the collection of highly sensitive biometric data — has drawn sharp criticism from privacy advocates and regulators.
In 2024, Portugal’s data protection agency suspended the project, expressing concern over the collection of data from minors. Just weeks earlier, Spain had issued a similar ban. Hong Kong’s privacy regulator also ordered Worldcoin to halt its iris and facial scanning activities after finding it in violation of local privacy laws.
As scrutiny intensifies, Worldcoin’s expansion efforts face mounting resistance from governments prioritizing user privacy and data security.
