Former Worldcoin Employee Alleges Unlawful Practices

A person identifying themselves as Nadir Hajarabi, who alleges former employment with Worldcoin, has accused the company of engaging in potentially unlawful activities during their time there.

In a YouTube video uploaded on August 23, Hajarabi spoke of observing “highly questionable” practices at Worldcoin, including “sloppy and/or unlawful actions” before they left the project ahead of its token release on July 24. They further alleged that the company withheld some of their salary and mentioned ongoing investigations involving various jurisdictions and Worldcoin.

Hajarabi criticized Worldcoin for what they described as “abysmal execution,” including cutting corners prior to the publication of its white paper. They stated they had been concerned about these issues “from the get-go,” and despite reaching out to the company’s CEO and legal department, they didn’t receive satisfactory explanations.

Hajarabi conveyed their grievances to Cointelegraph, saying, “I was not compensated for the arduous work I performed during ETHCC and ETH Global events, particularly after I began to question their operations. I refuse to be silenced or financially exploited. I’ll voice my concerns regardless of how limited my influence might be […] a firm claiming to address financial inequality should not be financially mistreating its employees.”

We couldn’t corroborate Hajarabi’s allegations, which included providing “specialized services” for Worldcoin. An image uploaded to a platform formerly known as Twitter seemed to show them with one of the company’s retinal scan devices. Hajarabi’s YouTube channel, established in September 2013, featured only the video discussing Worldcoin. An account on the same platform appeared to corroborate their identity by posting an ETHGlobal Paris badge showing Hajarabi’s name and association with Worldcoin.

A LinkedIn profile linked to Hajarabi seemed to match the individual in the YouTube video. This person is a Paris-based professional with a background in nonfungible tokens, Web3 projects, and smart contracts. Worldcoin did not respond to Cointelegraph’s request for a comment by the time the story was published.

Worldcoin was initiated to differentiate real individuals from bots through retinal scans via specialized devices. The project garnered over 2 million sign-ups before its token was launched in July. However, Worldcoin has faced criticism for potential privacy risks, both within and outside the cryptocurrency community. Regulatory bodies in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom have also reportedly raised concerns about the project’s data collection methods.

Additionally, Kenya’s internal security minister declared a halt to Worldcoin’s operations in the country pending a risk assessment, which was reported to involve equipment seizure. In Argentina, a public information agency has initiated an investigation into the company’s data handling practices, citing security and privacy issues.

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