Queues form as migrant workers in Singapore get their eyes scanned for cryptocurrency

They wait to stare into a silver orb to get Worldcoin cryptocurrency, as part of a project co-founded by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman.

People have been queuing at the basement of GR.iD shopping mall in Selegie Road to get their eyes scanned for cryptocurrency.

They wait to stare into a silver orb to get Worldcoin cryptocurrency, as part of a project co-founded by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman.

Dubbed Worldcoin, the project aims to become the world’s largest privacy-preserving human identity and financial network.

It does that by verifying user accounts, called World IDs, using users’ biometric data captured at proprietary imaging devices called Worldcoin Orbs around the world, including in Singapore.

World IDs can, in turn, be used to verify accounts on other platforms such as Discord and Shopify, proving that users are humans and not bots.

Worldcoin has been operating in Singapore since December 2023 and its orbs can be found in at least 10 locations islandwide, including GR.iD shopping mall and OGBC Innovation Hub in Raffles Place. These orbs sit within the existing premises of business owners.

Migrant workers formed the bulk of those queueing on the six days that The Straits Times visited GR.iD mall in May and June. They were following the instructions of an agent, who helped each of them to create a Worldcoin account.

A migrant worker, who did not want to be identified, said each migrant worker is paid about $45 in cash on average, after handing over control of his Worldcoin account and tokens to the agent.

“No one is forced into this. Many of us do it because everyone wants money,” he said.

The agents do not appear to be directly affiliated to Worldcoin, and declined to comment when approached by ST.

Each person can verify his account only once, and the amount of cryptocurrency tokens paid to users for verification varies.

Indian and Bangladeshi migrant workers here told ST they were offered less than $100 worth of tokens. But this reporter created a Worldcoin account in May and was offered 67 tokens, roughly worth about US$150 (S$200).

Office clerk Ivy Liu, 43, set up an account and had her eyes and face scanned at a Worldcoin Orb at the OGBC Innovation Hub in early June.

Ms Liu, who read about Worldcoin through social media, hopes to use the tokens to pay for goods online and overseas, and recommended it to her family as well. “When we go overseas, we’re already getting our biometrics scanned and data collected at immigration by different governments,” she said.

Mr Noel Tan, 26, a Singapore-based operator, said he got interested in Worldcoin after attending a cryptocurrency event, Token2049, in September 2023. He currently operates Worldcoin Orbs at two locations, with plans for a third one.

According to Worldcoin’s website, its operators are compensated for each verification they help with. Operators were initially paid in the cryptocurrency USD Coin, but have since November 2023 been paid in Worldcoin tokens. It is unclear how Singapore-based operators are being compensated.

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