The controversial project has drawn strong criticism for its iris-scanning technology.

On July 28, French privacy regulator CNIL launched an investigation into Worldcoin, concerned that its data collection and storage practices may not be entirely legal.

The regulator is working with its German counterpart, which directly oversees the project as the main European regulator.

CNIL told the newswire:

"The legality of the collection appears to be questionable, as do the conditions under which the biometric data is stored."

The project is also under investigation in the UK for similar reasons.

The Worldcoin Foundation told reporters via email:

"The Worldcoin Foundation complies with all laws and regulations governing the processing of personal data in the markets where Worldcoin is available, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)."

The foundation added that Worldcoin is regulated by the European Bavarian Data Protection Supervisory Office (Bayerisches Landesamt für Datenschutz) and is committed to working with regulators around the world to ensure its full compliance.

Orbs

Worldcoin recently launched its token and so-called "Orbs" (devices for scanning eyes) on July 24 to collect biometric iris data from willing participants. People who scan their eyes with Orbs will receive a unique Worldcoin ID and 25 Worldcoin tokens.

Worldcoin founder Sam Altman claimed that as of July 27, the project was onboarding about 8 users per second via orbs.

The project launched 1,500 orbs in several major cities around the world, including the UK, France and Germany. However, orbs and coins are not currently available in the US due to regulatory uncertainty.

The Worldcoin Foundation says it will focus on adding orbs that are more welcoming to the cryptocurrency industry than those jurisdictions that remain on the sidelines.

The project has been thriving throughout the second quarter, and despite the project's privacy and data concerns, the token launch was well received by most of the crypto community.

Meanwhile, network activity has surged since launch, with a single-day transaction volume hitting an all-time high of 944,668 on July 27, according to Etherscan data.