Sam Altman sold $65 million in WLD, with the token down over 97% from its peak.

The World Foundation, co-founded by Sam Altman, has completed approximately $65 million in financing by selling WLD tokens through over-the-counter (OTC) transactions to four counterparties. Following the announcement, WLD briefly hit a historical low of $0.24, down over 97% from its peak of $11.82.

OTC Sale Details: Use of Funds and Discount Rate

The World Foundation stated in an announcement on the X platform that the proceeds from this sale will be used for the following purposes:

Core Operations and Business Activities: Supporting the daily operations and promotion of the World project

Research and Development: Advancing biometric verification technology and related infrastructure development

Orb Equipment Manufacturing: Mass production and deployment of iris scanning devices

Ecosystem Development: Expanding application scenarios and partner networks for the World protocol

Of the total, about $25 million of WLD is subject to a six-month lock-up period, while the remaining portion can circulate immediately. This average price of $0.27 represents a discount of about 76% compared to the $1.13 per token when raising funds from institutions like Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Bain Capital Crypto last May, reflecting a significant reduction in WLD’s market valuation.

Dual Pressure on WLD Tokens: Historical Low and Massive Unlock in July

After the announcement, WLD briefly touched a historical low of $0.24 and then slightly rebounded to around $0.27. According to CoinMarketCap data, the current price is approximately $0.2725.

What’s more concerning is the impending supply-side shock. According to DefiLlama data, community tokens will undergo a large-scale unlock on July 23, with the unlock volume accounting for approximately 52.5% of the total supply of 10 billion WLD. This means that months after the market has not fully digested this OTC sale, it will face even larger inflows of tokens, posing a direct challenge to the cost structure for holders in the secondary market.

Regulatory Challenges Continue to Evolve: Thailand Raids and Global Resistance

The resistance faced by World comes not only from the market but also from accumulating regulatory pressures. In October of last year, the Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC Thailand) and the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau jointly raided an iris scanning site associated with World, accusing it of potentially violating digital asset regulations without a license, leading to multiple arrests. The related investigation is still ongoing.

This is not an isolated incident. Since its launch in 2023, World has faced investigations and business restrictions in multiple countries, including Germany, Indonesia, Kenya, and Brazil, with the core controversies focusing on authorization compliance and the privacy protection of biometric data. The transnational spread of regulatory risk, coupled with the continued decline in token prices, constitutes multiple pressures on Sam Altman’s other core business outside of OpenAI.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Sam Altman’s connection to the WLD token?

Sam Altman is the CEO of OpenAI and a co-founder of World (formerly known as Worldcoin). World conducts decentralized identity verification through iris scanning, and WLD is its native token aimed at providing verifiable human identity credentials to users worldwide. The World Foundation is responsible for coordinating token issuance and ecosystem management.

Why has the WLD token continued to decline to historical lows?

Multiple overlapping factors contribute to the persistent selling pressure: the World Foundation completed the OTC sale at approximately a 76% discount; the upcoming 52.5% token unlock in July further exacerbates supply expectations; in addition, the accumulation of regulatory resistance in multiple countries continues to exert pressure on long-term market confidence.

What risks does the July token unlock pose for WLD holders?

According to DefiLlama data, the unlock volume on July 23 is expected to be approximately 5.25 billion WLD, accounting for more than half of the total supply. A large influx of tokens typically creates significant selling pressure in the market, and if demand does not expand simultaneously during this period, the WLD price faces structural risks of further decline.