China Targets Worldcoin Over Iris Scans

China’s Ministry of State Security has issued a warning about the dangers of iris data collection, citing a foreign project that distributes tokens in exchange for eye scans. It’s pretty clear they’re talking about Worldcoin and its WLD tokens.

The ministry makes three key points:

• The iris is a unique biometric identifier (like a fingerprint).
• If leaked, this data can’t be changed.
• It could be used for identity theft, hacking, or espionage.

The first point is absolutely true. But the second and third deserve a closer look.

Why are people so afraid of their personal data being leaked? Correct me if I’m wrong, but the real fear is that someone could impersonate them and take unauthorized actions in their name - transfer their assets, or cause damage that the real person would be held responsible for.

But here’s the thing: an iris is a physical biometric marker. To impersonate someone using Worldcoin, you’d need their actual eye, not a hash of their iris stored in a World ID. The fact that your iris can’t be changed isn’t a downside - it’s a security feature.

Also, the Chinese ministry seems to misunderstand how keys work in crypto. When I sign a transaction with my private key, the blockchain doesn’t check whether I’m “me” - it just verifies that I have the right knowledge to move those funds. It doesn’t matter whether:

• I used the key myself,
• I gave it to someone else,
• someone guessed it,
• or someone stole it.

That’s a fundamental difference between crypto and traditional digital signatures used by governments or banks. In the fiat world, if someone signs with “your” signature, they assume it’s you. Crypto doesn’t play that game.

And most importantly: Worldcoin doesn’t even use your iris as a key.

So the entire argument about iris data being “dangerous” in this context is just noise.

Swap any crypto for WLD freely on rabbit.io - you’re safe.