"Why Do Koreans Love Worldcoin?"

D-19

Worldcoin, a project that aims to provide a basic income to humans in a future where AI may replace jobs, has recently gained widespread attention. The project involves scanning individuals' irises to verify their humanity and issuing them Worldcoin (WLD) tokens.

In South Korea, the project has seen significant uptake, with around 90,000 people downloading the World App and approximately 30,000 completing iris verification. However, Worldcoin has also faced legal challenges in the country.

According to Yonhap News, investigations revealed that the Worldcoin Foundation and TFH, a company commissioned to handle personal information, collected iris data and other personal information without legal permission and failed to comply with the Personal Information Protection Act when transferring this data overseas.

The report also highlights that the Worldcoin Foundation did not adequately inform users of the purpose of collecting and using iris information, including the retention and usage period. Additionally, iris codes are sensitive information that can identify individuals and cannot be changed, thus requiring separate consent and security measures, which were not met.

Furthermore, the investigation confirmed that the Worldcoin Foundation and TFH transferred personal information collected in South Korea to foreign countries, including Germany, without notifying users.

The news is particularly significant as South Korea accounts for a large portion of WLD trading volume. As of October 6, South Korean exchanges handled about 16% of the total WLD trading volume.

Most of this trading activity occurred on Bithumb, making it the second-largest exchange by trading volume after Binance.

Percentage of WLD trading volume on South Korean exchanges

In July, @DefiSquared took to Twitter to sharply criticize Worldcoin, highlighting several concerns. He pointed out that WLD's valuation was unusually high, there were signs of price manipulation by the project team, and the tokenomics were extremely favorable to insiders.

Notably, @DefiSquared expressed concern that retail investors in South Korea could become "unfortunate victims." He noted that while only 2.7% of the total WLD supply was in circulation, the fully diluted valuation (FDV) had reached $30 billion, with about 25% of the circulating supply held on Bithumb.

[…] Many of these individuals may not even be able to read enough English to understand the situation. As of the time of writing, nearly 25% of all circulating WLD is held on Bithumb, and although the unlocking of tokens is imminent, it continues to increase:

This is not a shitcoin chart.

Google Trends also shows that the keyword "Worldcoin" (월드코인) in Korean is closely related to the price movements of WLD, indicating that Koreans are more likely to purchase WLD during its peak. For instance, as WLD price surged to about $12 and has since experienced a nearly 90% decline.

What is even more regrettable is that not only young people who are proficient in cryptocurrency but also elderly individuals are attracted to Worldcoin, going to Orb locations for iris recognition and obtaining WLD tokens. While it is unclear whether these elderly individuals purchased WLD tokens, if they did, they may have suffered significant losses.

Orbs are installed at various locations in Seoul, particularly in dining establishments. The operators of these Orbs receive WLD as a reward for each new iris verification. This has led to a marketing strategy where venues encourage visiting customers to undergo iris verification to receive "free tokens."

This marketing approach has raised concerns about collecting iris information from unsuspecting elderly individuals. In March, when Worldcoin reached its peak popularity, South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission began an investigation due to a large number of complaints.

Distribution map of Worldcoin Orbs in Seoul

Although it is theoretically impossible to reconstruct personal biometric information from the iris codes generated after scanning at the Orbs, most people cannot fully understand Worldcoin's technology. The act of scanning one's iris may feel intrusive, which could be one of the reasons for the controversy.

Search volume for Worldcoin (35.1%) exceeds the total of all other keywords combined

I noticed an interesting phenomenon: there is a high demand for Worldcoin-related content on YouTube. In the search statistics for my channel, the keyword "Worldcoin" accounts for about 35% of the search volume, more than double that of the second-ranking keyword.

A quick search for Worldcoin on YouTube reveals many videos predicting price increases and potential positive developments. This is not surprising, as YouTube is the second-largest platform for information acquisition in South Korea, after Naver.

Ranking of search platforms in South Korea: Naver, YouTube, Google, Instagram, Namuwiki/Wikipedia, Kakaotalk, Daum, ChatGPT, Facebook, X

Koreans primarily rely on Naver for information searches, followed by YouTube, rather than Google. While English speakers mainly use Google, South Korea has unique communities like "Naver Cafes"