The registration exercise for Worldcoin at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre has been stopped over security concerns.
The Worldcoin team carrying out the registration said police told them to stop the exercise and look for a bigger venue.
Hundreds of Kenyans who had turned up were turned away as police locked the gate to the venue.
The process involves the scanning of a user's eyes to capture their iris upon which they are provided with a unique number.
The registration entitles a registered user to 25 free Worldcoin tokens worth about $2 (Sh284) amounting to roughly Sh7,000.
Despite the privacy concerns raised over the project by American Sam Altman, Kenyans have been trooping to the KICC in their numbers, line up for hours and having their iris scanned.
Long queues have been a daily sight at the KICC even after the Office of Data Protection Commissioner cautioned Kenyans against the cryptocurrency project that has caught the world by storm.
Data Commissioner Immaculate Kassait on Friday called for vigilance even as the company assured of privacy of data of registered users.
"The ODPC is aware that WorldCoin has now been launched and is processing sensitive personal data in a manner that requires a demonstration of proper safeguards under the Data Protection Act, 2019," Data Commissioner Immaculate Kassait said.
"As the ODPC conducts its assessment of WorldCoin's practices to ensure compliance with the law, Kenyans are urged to ensure that they receive proper information before disclosing any personal or sensitive data. Individuals are advised to thoroughly inquire about how their data will be used," she added.
Among the concerns raised about the project is why it's not being run in the US, the home country of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
The company says on its website it aims to establish universal access to the global economy regardless of country or background, but issues a disclaimer that the project is not available in the US.
"Worldcoin tokens (WLD) are not intended to be available to people or companies who are residents of, or are located, incorporated or have a registered agent in, the United States or other restricted territories".
It says the project is designed to become the world's largest human identity and financial network, giving ownership to everyone.
"All with the intention of welcoming every person on the planet and establishing a place for all of us to benefit in the age of AI," Worldcoin said.
The company indicates on its website that as at Tuesday, over 2.1 million people had signed up on Worldcoin across 120 countries.
The company said there are on average 204,681 dialy wallet transactions with over 15 million Worldcoin tokens having been claimed by users.
The company said it hit the two million users on July 13 since the first sign up on May 5, 2021.
