Arthur Hayes has amplified a bullish Worldcoin thesis from Maelstrom, arguing that WLD could become a high-beta proxy for the coming wave of artificial intelligence IPOs. The call centers on a short-heavy setup, a potential balance-sheet bid from Eightco, and a scheduled reduction in WLD unlocks later this month. Hayes, the BitMEX co-founder and Maelstrom chief investment officer, put the argument in his typically blunt style on X. “Read it and weep WLD bears,” he wrote. “This shitcoin is going to moon … cause AI duh. Don’t mid-curve this shit.” The post quoted a Maelstrom research note titled “WLD Hated Rally,” authored by Lukas Ruppert, which frames Worldcoin as an overlooked liquid proxy for exposure to OpenAI-adjacent artificial intelligence upside. Maelstrom’s stated target is $5 by August, though the firm cautioned readers to “DYOR” and said the note was “not financial advice.” Maelstrom Sees Worldcoin (WLD) As An AI Proxy Maelstrom’s core thesis begins with public-market behavior around private technology listings. The firm pointed to SpaceX’s confidential S-1 filing on April 1, arguing that high-beta space-linked equities reacted sharply after the filing became known. Related Reading: Worldcoin’s FOMO Rally Cracks After On-Chain Activity Explodes “When SpaceX confidentially filed its S-1 on April 1, high-beta space names ran,” Maelstrom wrote. “Rocket Lab (RKLB) rallied 165%. Anthropic has now filed as well. The AI mega IPOs are coming – and it appears the market has overlooked one of the cleanest proxies.” The proxy in question is WLD. According to Maelstrom, investors are aggressively pursuing exposure to companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI, often through layered SPVs that charge high fees and imply valuations in the hundreds of billions or even trillions. By contrast, the note says WLD trades at a $2 billion unlocked market capitalization, a comparatively small figure if the market begins treating it as a liquid expression of AI-linked speculative demand. “Capital is aggressively chasing Anthropic and OpenAI exposure,” Maelstrom wrote. “Layered SPVs are charging egregious fees. Valuations are in the hundreds of billions and trillions. WLD trades at $2B unlocked market cap. A small cap, when it comes to AI valuations. Asymmetric upside.” The Bear Trap Setup The second leg of the thesis is positioning. Maelstrom argued that WLD has lagged the broader AI trade despite the intensity of investor interest in the sector. The token is down year-to-date, according to the note, while perp funding has turned deeply negative. The firm tied that weakness partly to Worldcoin’s March OTC round, which it said raised $65 million, including $25 million locked for six months. Since then, Maelstrom argued, OTC participants have been hedging exposure while long-short traders continued leaning into a bearish chart. Related Reading: Worldcoin Drops 10% Even As Sam Altman Doubles Down On Human ID Tech “While the AI bull market has been raging, $WLD is down YTD,” the note said. “In March, Worldcoin closed a $65M OTC round, with $25M locked for six months. Since then, perp funding has turned deeply negative as OTC participants hedge exposure and L/S traders continue pressing a down-only chart. Textbook short overhang. But those shorts could end in tears.” That short overhang is central to the $5 target. In Maelstrom’s view, WLD does not need a constant bid to move sharply. It needs a catalyst capable of forcing crowded shorts to reassess at the same time that new buyers begin treating the token as an AI trade. Maelstrom pointed to Eightco Holdings, trading under the ticker ORBS, as another possible accelerant. The note described Eightco as a WLD/OAI digital asset treasury and said the company reported approximately $144 million in cash and equivalents on its balance sheet on May 27. “Even a modest allocation into WLD could trigger a reflexive loop,” Maelstrom wrote, adding that the daily unlock rate is scheduled to drop 43% on July 24. The firm also said ORBS already holds roughly 283 million WLD, equal to about 8.3% of circulating supply, and claimed the company is “just getting started.” UPDATE: In a later X post, Hayes added: “The SpaceX IPO is going to melt people’s faces off. Holding the WLD through the listing next week.” He also revealed that he sold his entire HYPE and NEAR positions. At press time, WLD traded at $0.5192. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
The Bitcoin flash crash highlights the volatility and risks in leveraged crypto trading, potentially impacting investor confidence and market stability.
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Worldcoin’s latest rally drew a sharp increase in on-chain activity, with whale transactions, active addresses and new wallet creation all surging as WLD briefly climbed above $0.408 to an 11-week high. The move has since reversed, with live market data showing WLD back near $0.31 after a double-digit 24-hour drop, making the rally look increasingly FOMO-driven rather than a clean trend shift. Santiment’s chart tracks WLD price action against three network indicators: whale transactions, daily active addresses and network growth. According to the firm, whale transactions rose to 64 in 24 hours, the highest level of 2026. Active addresses jumped to 1,309, the second-highest reading of the year, while network growth reached 379 new wallets in 24 hours, also the highest level of 2026. Why Has Worldcoin Rallied And Dumped? That combination is notable because the activity did not come from one segment alone. Whale transactions point to large-holder movement, active addresses capture broader usage or trading activity, and network growth reflects new wallets entering the ecosystem. When all three rise alongside price, it usually indicates that large investors and smaller participants are engaging with the asset at the same time. Related Reading: Worldcoin Drops 10% Even As Sam Altman Doubles Down On Human ID Tech Santiment, however, warned that the timing looked speculative. “Worldcoin’s on-chain activity has exploded alongside its climb to an 11-week price high above $0.408, showing a major increase in both retail and whale participation,” the firm wrote. “When whale activity, active addresses, and new wallet creation all rise together, it usually signals that both large investors and smaller traders are becoming increasingly engaged with a project at the same time. That said, these spikes all appear to be somewhat FOMO-related, and coincided with the huge WLD price surge that just occurred.” The reversal gives that warning more weight. After pushing above $0.408, WLD fell back toward the -$0.30 range, with live data showing the token near $0.308 and down roughly 25% since the peak. Related Reading: Worldcoin Jumps Over 30% As OpenAI Plans To Develop A Bot-Free Rival To X The likely catalyst was the integration of Oku Trade into the World App, a DeFi aggregator’s launch inside World App, alongside weekly swap competitions and WLD reward incentives for users. That matters for interpreting the on-chain data: a new trading feature and reward program can increase swaps, wallet activity and speculative attention at the same time, but it may also pull forward demand that fades once the initial incentive cycle cools. The broader Worldcoin narrative remains tied to proof of personhood. Co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the project is attempting to build a global digital identity system based on biometric verification through Orb devices. That story has gained traction as AI-generated content, bots and synthetic identities become larger concerns across online platforms. At press time, WLD traded at $0.31. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Worldcoin’s growing list of corporate partners got longer on Friday — and so did the questions surrounding it. Related Reading: BREAKING – Bitcoin Breaks $78K As Iran Reopens Strait Of Hormuz Big Names, Bigger Ambitions Zoom and DocuSign are the latest companies to adopt World’s identity verification system, joining a growing roster of mainstream platforms built around the iris-scanning technology backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Dating app Tinder is also rolling out World ID to users in the US. The announcements came Friday, the same day World’s native token, WLD, took a steep hit in the market. Worldcoin slipped 10% to around $0.28, even as Sam Altman pushed ahead with new integrations tied to its identity-focused “proof of human” technology. The drop stood out, with the token moving against broader crypto strength during the session. No more deepfakes on video calls. @worldnetwork identify verification on @Zoom. pic.twitter.com/0ap0IOKR6H — World (@worldnetwork) April 17, 2026 Worldcoin: What The Technology Actually Does At the center of World’s system is a device called the Orb. It scans a user’s iris to produce a unique digital identity, which is then used to confirm the person is human — without storing or exposing personal data, according to the company. That identity can then be tied to third-party platforms through World ID. Zoom is using a feature called Deep Face authentication to flag and block deepfakes during video calls. DocuSign is applying World’s ID verification to electronic agreements. Both integrations target the same underlying problem: AI-generated content has made it harder to tell humans from machines, and fraud using synthetic identities is on the rise. “As AI agents increasingly act on behalf of real people, the infrastructure to prove a human stands behind each agent becomes critical,” World said in a statement. World has also updated its account system, adding key recovery and multi-device support to make verification easier to carry across platforms. Privacy Questions Aren’t Going Away Biometric data collection at this scale draws scrutiny. Critics have raised concerns that centralizing iris data under a single private company creates risks — both in terms of data security and the potential for misuse. Surveillance, in particular, has been flagged as a serious concern if the system is ever applied beyond its stated purpose. WLD is the token that powers the World Network. Users earn it by verifying their identity through the Orb, and it can be used for transactions within the ecosystem. Related Reading: Bitcoin, Ethereum Trading Expands As Charles Schwab Enters Crypto Market Coinbase announced in March it would use World’s AgentKit — a developer toolkit that links AI agents to verified human identities — for its x402 micropayments protocol. That deal added another layer to Worldcoin’s push into the AI space, where proving human oversight of automated systems has become a growing priority for developers and companies alike. Featured image from Rest of World, chart from TradingView
WLD hit a new all-time low of about $0.24 on Saturday, down roughly 97% from its March 2024 peak near $11.82, though it rebounded on the news.
CEO Jensen Huang predicted $1 trillion in chip demand through 2027 and praised OpenClaw and the rapid rise of agentic AI systems.
Eightco holds a digital asset treasury that includes some 277 million WLD tokens and 11,000 ether.
OpenAI’s hint that it may build a social app focused on real humans sent one crypto token climbing fast this week. Traders moved quickly after reports surfaced that the new service would try to block bots by using biometric checks. Prices jumped, chatter rose, and a few questions followed close behind. Related Reading: Something Big Is Brewing In XRP DeFi—And 91 Million Tokens Tell The Story Markets React To Biometric Rumors According to Forbes and several market outlets, OpenAI is quietly exploring a “humans-only” social platform. Reports say the project is still small, run by a roughly 10-person team inside the company. The idea would be to verify real users with biometric tools — either existing phone systems like Face ID or iris scans similar to the ones used by Worldcoin’s Orb. Worldcoin’s token, WLD, surged sharply on the news, hitting gains as high as 33% during the initial trading spike. That move was partly speculative. Prices later pulled back, but trading volume stayed elevated and volatility increased. WLD climbed from $0.51 to $0.68 in the last 24 hours, data from Coingecko shows. How Proof Of Personhood Could Be Used Proof of personhood aims to tell a platform which accounts are run by actual people and which ones are automated. Reports note that using biometrics would make it harder for bots to create fake accounts, but that approach raises new hurdles. For example, devices and systems must be trusted to check identity without sharing private data. Worldcoin’s model pairs an iris scan with a cryptographic claim. That claim is meant to prove uniqueness while hiding the raw biometric image. The technical detail matters. How the checks are stored, who holds the keys, and whether users can opt out will shape public acceptance. The Identity Project News outlets first published the OpenAI report late last week. Markets reacted in real time. Social posts amplified the rumor, and media pieces linked the plan back to Worldcoin because Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, helped start the identity project. No formal announcement has been made by OpenAI or by Worldcoin. Everything on the table is based on reporting from unnamed sources. It should be clear that plans can change, and that early reports often overstate certainty. Related Reading: PayPal Survey: 4 In 10 US Merchants Now Accept Crypto Privacy And Policy Questions Loom Policy experts were quick to point out issues. Biometrics are sensitive data. Laws in different countries treat them in different ways. Reports have disclosed that regulators will likely ask how consent is gathered, how long data is kept, and whether people can use alternatives to biometric checks. Security is also a concern: if a verification system is breached, the consequences could be serious. Some civil rights groups already say that any mass biometric system deserves close scrutiny. Featured image from Nelson Dai, chart from TradingView
The firm's $214 million stake in Worldcoin-linked Eightco highlights its first equity "moonshot" alongside growing ETH reserves.
Worldcoin (WLD) has seen a 40% daily jump following Eightco’s announcement of the first WLD treasury strategy in the world. Amid the rally, some analysts suggest that the cryptocurrency could see a 200% run to the December highs. Related Reading: ‘Corporate’ Altcoin Season? Expert Shares How Crypto ETFs, Treasuries Could Change The Market Eightco Unveils First Worldcoin Treasury Strategy On Monday, public e-commerce infrastructure firm Eightco Holdings Inc. announced it has secured a $250 million private placement to implement the first-of-its-kind Worldcoin treasury strategy. According to the press release, Eightco’s capital raise involved the sale of 171.2 million shares of common stock at $1.46 per share, with an additional 13.7 million shares issued to BitMine, the largest Ethereum (ETH) treasury company, at the same price. On September 8, BitMine announced a $20 million strategic investment into Eightco Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: OCTO) as part of OCTO’s $270 million private investment in public equity. BitMine’s investment marks the start of its “Moonshot” strategy, aiming to allocate 1% of the company’s balance sheet into projects to strengthen the Ethereum ecosystem and create value for BitMine equity shareholders. Thomas “Tom” Lee, Chairman of BitMine, noted that the company “wants to support and back innovative projects that create value for the Ethereum network. As an ERC-20 native token, World is aligned with Ethereum. World’s unique zero-knowledge Proof of Human credential could be essential to future trust and safety between technology platforms and their billions of human users.” Eightco stated that proceeds from the private placement will allow the company to adopt Worldcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset. It added that the treasury may also hold ETH as a secondary reserve asset, but the primary emphasis will be on WLD. “Worldcoin will serve as the Company’s primary treasury reserve asset. In connection with the closing of the offering, the Company intends to change the Nasdaq trading symbol of its common stock to ‘ORBS’, which is expected to take effect on September 11, 2025,” the press release reads. WLD Breakout Eyes 200% Rally Following the announcement, Worldcoin broke above the $1.50 barrier, hitting a three-month high of $1.58 and nearing a crucial resistance level. The cryptocurrency has been accumulating between the $0.60-$1.60 price range for the past seven months, failing to break out of this range during the May and August rallies. However, WLD has been recently gaining momentum, with its price surging around 30% over the weekend and reclaiming the $1.00 mark. Market watcher Alpha Crypto Signals noted that Worldcoin broke out of a nearly two-month falling wedge on the daily chart, signaling a potential trend shift for the token. They highlighted that WLD reclaimed the 9 EMA after the breakout, and the push beyond key resistance levels gave bulls the upper hand, adding that “WLD buyers took control exactly as anticipated.” Meanwhile, analyst LlucianoBTC pointed out a four-month falling wedge on WLD’s chart, affirming that Worldcoin is targeting a “spectacular” rally once the breakout is confirmed. According to the chart, the cryptocurrency has broken out of the formation’s resistance at $1.20 after two failed attempts, which could send the price to last year’s highs if momentum holds. Related Reading: Ethereum Price To Clear $5,000 If This Level Is Broken Similarly, Captain Faibik asserted that Worldcoin was on the verge of a multi-year trendline breakout on the daily chart, targeting a 200% rally to the December 2024 high, around the $4.00 area. Since then, the cryptocurrency has broken out of the major resistance and is attempting to reclaim the $1.50 level as support. As of this writing, Worldcoin is trading at $1.51, a 73% increase in the weekly timeframe. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
Bitmine's latest disclosure suggests the Ethereum treasury firm bought an additional $1.4 billion in ETH since Sept. 4.
BitMine has crossed a new milestone, building its Ethereum reserves to more than 2 million ETH and solidifying its role as the largest corporate holder of the asset. The company announced on Sept. 8 that its balance sheet now exceeds $9.21 billion, split between holdings of 2,069,443 ETH, 192 Bitcoin, and $266 million in cash. These […]
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BMNR also announced a $20 million investment in Eightco Holdings (OCTO), which plans to hold worldcoin (WLD) as its primary treasury asset.
More than 530,000 new users verified in the past seven days, the highest jump in weeks, lifting the total above 33.5 million.
Humanity Protocol’s $1.1B-valued mainnet uses zkTLS to link Web2 credentials with Web3 services while keeping user data private.
China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) has warned that a foreign crypto company is collecting iris scan data under the guise of token distribution, raising serious concerns about personal and national security. In an Aug. 5 statement, the ministry revealed that the firm is gathering iris data from users worldwide and transmitting it to an […]
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A new advisory from China's Ministry of State Security highlights what it calls national security risks based on foreign firms collecting biometric data under the guise of crypto giveaways.
World Network also integrates Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP V2) to move USDC across a range of blockchains.
Funds from the venture capital giants will be used for the network's expansion.
World Foundation Advisor Liam Horne spoke Wednesday at Consensus 2025.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital has temporarily suspended World (formerly Worldcoin) and its digital identity platform, World ID, citing registration issues and possible violations of local electronic system rules. According to a May 4 statement, the ministry confirmed it had suspended the Electronic System Organizer Registration Certificate (TDPSE) for both Worldcoin and World ID. […]
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World, formerly known as Worldcoin, has officially launched its identity verification platform in the United States, according to an April 30 statement. The blockchain-based project enables users to confirm their humanity using a World ID, which can now be verified at dedicated centers in six key cities, including Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, and […]
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World's big push to scale involves U.S. rollout, a new Visa card and partnership with Tinder's parent company.
The move will make World Wallet into a "mini bank account" for anyone who wants it, according to a person familiar with the plans.
The teams are releasing “Razer ID verified by World ID,” which is a single sign-on mechanism that will verify real human gamers from bots.
The new feature, a "mini app" accessible via the World App wallet, will offer special features to holders of World Network's digital passport, which lets users scan their iris in exchange for an account that verifies their "proof-of-personhood."
The protocol aims to rival OpenAI founder Sam Altman's Worldcoin project, which is built around scanning users' irises.
Although World has reached a significant milestone, regulatory headwinds across jurisdictions remain a challenge for the project.
The crypto industry begins the year with approximately $7 billion in tokens set to be unlocked throughout January, according to data from Tokenomist (formerly Token Unlock). Crypto unlocks are designed to gradually release cryptocurrencies, often to prevent significant sell-offs by early investors or team members. While this process ensures a controlled flow of tokens into […]
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German regulators demand compliance changes from World ID after a biometric data investigation.