Worldcoin says it isn’t facing an investigation from Singaporean authorities. On Sept. 9, Gan Kim Yong, Singapore's deputy prime minister and chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), disclosed that local authorities are investigating seven individuals suspected of selling accounts and tokens for the controversial digital identity project without proper licenses. However, Tools For Humanity, the technology company behind Worldoin, said it is not subject to the investigation. "Neither Worldcoin nor Tools for Humanity are under investigation by police in Singapore," Tools for Humanity told The Defiant. "Individuals being investigated by authorities for possible violation of the Payment Services Act are not affiliated with Worldcoin or its operations in any way." During a parliamentary session, Yong said individuals engaging in the sale and purchase of Worldcoin accounts and WLD tokens may be operating in violation of Singapore’s Payment Services Act. Yong added that traded Worldcoin accounts could be misused for criminal activities including money laundering and terrorism financing. Yong also noted that Worldcoin itself does not violate the Payment Services Act. The deputy prime minister’s remarks come after Singaporean police published an advisory warning residents against selling their Worldcoin accounts in August. Worldcoin attracts ire of regulators The news follows Worldcoin repeatedly attracting the ire of regulators across the globe for its data collection practices. The controversial project issues World IDs to users who undergo an iris scan, with Worldcoin seeking to establish a digital identity system guaranteeing proof-of-humanity in response to the rise of artificial intelligence. Both World ID recipients and iris scan operators are incentivized in the form of its native WLD token. The project was notably founded by Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. Worldcoin began rolling out iris scans in July 2023. The project says personal data is encrypted and stored locally on a user’s device, and that it does not possess the ability to decrypt user data. Regardless, Worldcoin quickly attracted attention from European regulators, with Germany’s Bavarian State Office for Data Protection launching an investigation into the project in November 2022. The British data regulator announced an inquiry into Worldcoin in July 2023, with France’s data watchdog also following suit. In August 2023, Kenya regulators suspended the activities of Worldcoin in the country over concerns that sensitive user information could be misused. However, in June, the investigation concluded without finding any wrongdoing, allowing the project to resume operations​. In March 2024, Spain suspended Worldcoin's data collection operations, citing potential violations of European Union privacy law, with Worldcoin later agreeing to cease operations until 2025. Portugal similarly halted Worldcoin’s operations for 90 days. In May, Hong Kong also ordered Worldcoin to stop collecting citizens’ data. Worldcoin resumed operations in South Korea in May following a two-month suspension amid an investigation from local authorities. Despite frequently attracting regulatory intervention, Worldcoin says it has issued 6.62 million World IDs to individuals across 160 countries, including 79,134 in the past week alone. The price of WLD is down 1.5% in the past 24 hours, according to The Defiant’s crypto price feeds.