Worldcoin token slides amid CEO shuffle at OpenAI

The departure of Sam Altman from OpenAI has triggered a notable impact on the WLD token associated with Worldcoin, an iris-scanning biometric project also founded by Altman. CoinGecko reported a 14% drop in the WLD token following the announcement of Altman’s exit. Altman’s removal from the position of CEO at OpenAI was a result of a board review, citing a lack of transparent communication that impeded the board’s responsibilities.

Worldcoin token experiences a 14% drop

This communication breakdown led to a loss of confidence in Altman’s leadership. The market response to this news was swift, with the price of the WLD token requiring two updates during the writing of this post to reflect the dynamic situation. As of Friday, Worldcoin’s token, WLD, was trading at $1.89, with a market capitalization of $218 million. In the past 24 hours, the token experienced a trading volume of $141 million, with approximately 40% of it stemming from the WLD and Tether (USDT) trading pair on Binance. This marks a 42% decrease from WLD’s all-time high of $3.30, observed when Worldcoin emerged from beta in July.

Surprisingly, the broader category of AI coins and tokens, as defined by CoinGecko, showed resilience to Altman’s departure. In the past 24 hours, the AI coin market cap experienced a 30% growth, reaching $5.4 billion. Worldcoin, initiated by San Francisco and Berlin-based Tools for Humanity in 2019, received backing from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. The project, co-founded by Altman, Max Novendstern, and Alex Blania, focuses on biometric cryptocurrency and introduces a mechanism called World ID for authenticating human identity online.

WLD’s resilience amid criticism and government scrutiny

This innovative approach aims to combat bots and fake identities. Users become part of the network by undergoing iris scanning with an orb-shaped device, receiving Worldcoin tokens in return. This distribution mechanism is inspired by discussions around universal basic income. Worldcoin’s token, WLD, operates on the Ethereum blockchain and, although not available in the U.S., the project has deployed its iris-scanning orbs primarily in states like New York, San Francisco, and Atlanta. By October 2021, the project had initially raised $25 million.

In the next six months, it raised an additional $100 million, leading to a $3 billion market capitalization for the token. However, as the project expanded, it faced criticism, particularly from an MIT Technology Review article alleging that Worldcoin gained its first 500,000 users through deceptive practices, worker exploitation, and cash handouts. In the face of considerable backlash from privacy advocates, Worldcoin officially launched out of beta in July 2023. While the project aimed to address identity verification challenges, several governments expressed concerns about Worldcoin’s approach.

Kenya suspended its enrollment, citing security, privacy, and financial apprehensions. Although Kenya is the only country to outright ban Worldcoin, the project encountered scrutiny from other nations, including the U.K., Germany, and France. Sam Altman’s departure from OpenAI had a discernible impact on the Worldcoin project, as reflected in the fluctuation of the WLD token. Despite facing challenges and criticisms, Worldcoin’s innovative approach to identity authentication continues to shape discussions in the cryptocurrency space, albeit under the scrutiny of various governments.