$65 Million OTC Sale at Rock-Bottom Prices
World Foundation, the entity behind Sam Altman’s iris-scanning identity project, completed a $65 million over-the-counter token sale this week. The foundation’s token issuance arm, World Assets, sold approximately 239 million WLD tokens to four counterparties at an average price of roughly $0.27 per token, with the first tranche settling on March 20.
The foundation stated the funds will cover core operations including R&D, Orb manufacturing, and ecosystem development. Of the total, $25 million worth of tokens carry a six-month lockup. The remaining $40 million was immediately liquid.
To put that price in context: in May 2025, World raised $135 million at approximately $1.13 per token from backers including Andreessen Horowitz and Bain Capital Crypto. The latest sale represents a 76% discount to that round.
WLD Hits All-Time Low
Following the announcement, WLD briefly touched an all-time low of approximately $0.24 before recovering to the $0.27 range. The token is now down roughly 97% from its March 2024 peak of $11.82. At the time of writing, WLD trades around $0.2725.
The scale of decline is worth pausing on. A token backed by one of the most recognized names in technology, funded by top-tier venture capital, with a product that has scanned millions of irises globally, has lost nearly all of its market value in roughly 12 months. The technology may still have a future. The token, at this price, is telling a different story.
| Date | Event | Price |
|---|---|---|
| March 2024 | All-time high | $11.82 |
| May 2025 | Series raise (a16z, Bain) | $1.13 |
| March 20, 2026 | OTC sale to 4 counterparties | $0.27 |
| March 29, 2026 | All-time low reached | $0.24 |
| Current | Trading price | $0.2725 |
The July Unlock: 52% of Total Supply
The OTC sale is not the only supply pressure facing WLD holders. A major community token unlock is scheduled for July 23, 2026, covering approximately 52.51% of the token’s 10 billion total supply, according to DefiLlama data.
To be clear about what that means: the circulating supply of WLD will increase by more than 50% in a single event. This is one of the largest proportional token unlocks in the cryptocurrency market’s history. Even under favorable conditions, an event of this magnitude creates significant sell pressure. At current prices and sentiment, it represents a structural overhang that the market will need to absorb.
Currently, approximately 2.97 billion WLD are in circulation out of a 10 billion total supply. Wallets linked to the World Foundation still hold around 6.34 billion WLD, valued at roughly $2 billion at current prices.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Total Supply | 10 billion WLD |
| Circulating Supply | ~2.97 billion WLD (29.7%) |
| July 2026 Unlock | ~52.51% of total supply |
| Community Allocation | 75% |
| TFH Investors | 13.78% |
| Initial Development Team | 10.02% |
| TFH Reserve | 1.20% |
| Full Vesting Completion | 2038 |
Regulatory Pressure Keeps Building
World’s challenges extend beyond tokenomics. The project has faced regulatory pushback across multiple jurisdictions since its 2023 launch. In October 2025, Thai authorities raided an iris-scanning site linked to World, citing potential violations of digital asset laws for operating without a license.
The list of countries that have investigated, suspended, or restricted World’s operations includes Indonesia, Germany, Kenya, Brazil, and Thailand. The common thread across these actions is concern over the handling of sensitive biometric data and licensing compliance.
For a project whose entire value proposition rests on global identity verification, regulatory friction in major markets is not a peripheral issue. It directly limits the network’s ability to scale the one thing that could justify the token’s existence.
What This Means for WLD Holders
The data paints a clear picture. The foundation is selling tokens at a steep discount to fund operations. The price has collapsed 97% from its peak. A supply event that will more than double circulating tokens is less than four months away. Regulatory headwinds persist in multiple countries.
None of this means the World project itself is dead. The technology behind proof-of-personhood and iris-based verification may find real utility as AI-generated content and identity fraud become larger problems. But the token economics and the project’s long-term viability are two separate conversations.
The gap between World’s vision and WLD’s market reality is widening. Whether that gap closes depends on execution, regulatory progress, and whether the July unlock is absorbed or becomes a breaking point.
