The Kenyan government has ordered cryptocurrency project Worldcoin to stop registering new users, citing data privacy concerns.

Founded by US tech entrepreneur Sam Altman, Worldcoin is offering free crypto tokens to anyone who agrees to have people’s pupils scanned.

This week, thousands of Kenyans lined up at registration centers to receive the currency, which is worth about $49 (£39).

Kenya has warned its citizens to be careful when providing data to private companies.

In a statement from the Kenya Communications Authority, the points of concern were:

-How biometric data is stored -Offering money in exchange for data

• Having so much data in the hands of a private company

The interior ministry launched an investigation into Worldcoin and called on security services and data protection agencies to determine its authenticity and legality.

In a statement released on Thursday, Worldcoin stated that it plans to cooperate with the government and implement crowd control measures before continuing its work. It also added that Kenyan regulations are being complied with.

At one of the pop-up registration centers in the capital, Nairobi, hundreds of people were queuing to register, but most were taken out of action Wednesday, he said, calling the crowd a “security risk”.

“I’ve been coming in and standing in line for almost three days now. I want to sign up because I’m unemployed and have no money, which is why I’m here,” Webster Moses told the BBC.

Dickson Muli said, “I came here yesterday. I waited until my phone died. So I came back today but missed the record again. I really like Worldcoin because I love money. I’m not worried about the data being retrieved. As long as the money comes in, it’s fine.”

Worldcoin notes that it cannot tell how many people in Kenya have had their pupils scanned.

It claims to have created a new global “identity and financial network”.

A statement on the Worldcoin website states, “We are building the world’s largest identity and financial network as a public service that is owned by everyone. And we provide universal access to the global economy, regardless of country or background.”

Mr. Altman, founder of Open AI, which created the chatbot ChatGPT, says he hopes this initiative will help verify whether it is a human or a robot. It also means that this could lead to a universal basic income for everyone, but it is not clear how.