Part 2 of a 2 part series. Even if you accepted Worldcoin's political premise, the economics don't work: a fixed-supply token in a growing economy produces deflation, freezes investment, and cannot respond to crises the way a state-backed currency automatically can. The current WLD distribution is a venture capital subsidy, not a sustainable funding mechanism, and when it runs out or token prices collapse, the safety net doesn't weaken — it vanishes entirely. Real UBI requires taxing productive assets at the point of generation, which only a state has the legal authority to do.

Part 1 of a 2 part series. Worldcoin presents itself as a humanitarian project, but beneath the frictionless pitch lies a privatization of the most fundamental civic function: the recognition of persons as legal and political subjects. The 2025 Kenya High Court ruling made the stakes concrete, finding that paying vulnerable populations for their biometric data is coercion, not consent. The deeper danger is structural — if wealthy nations build sovereign UBI systems while others become dependent on a private token network, some people will hold rights while others hold coupons.

Southeast Asia’s policy class is watching the wrong theatre. While a potential Ukraine ceasefire might shift European headlines and trim near-term risk premiums, it will not unwind the structural forces now shaping ASEAN’s energy reality.