Worldcoin (WLD)

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Historical price evolution of Worldcoin

Daily historical data. Updated automatically.

Worldcoin was born in 2019 at the hands of Sam Altman (then president of Y Combinator and recently incorporated as CEO of OpenAI), Max Novendstern (ex-Bridgewater Associates, ex-Wave) and Alex Blania (PhD candidate in theoretical physics at Caltech and the Max Planck Society), who co-founded Tools for Humanity (TFH) in San Francisco and Berlin. The declared mission was to create a global human identity verification system in the face of AI's arrival, distributing a universal currency as an incentive. Novendstern would abandon the project in 2021. In June 2021, Bloomberg reveals the project's existence, whose promise of giving tokens to anyone who scans their iris provokes immediate scepticism.

In March 2022, with 450,000 verified users in 24 countries, MIT Technology Review publishes an investigation that concludes the project disproportionately recruits low-income communities in developing countries, with scant disclosure of risks. That same month, TFH raises 100 million USD in Series B from a16z and Khosla Ventures at a valuation of 3,000 million USD. In March 2023, TFH launches World ID, a proof of humanity protocol that allows third-party platforms to verify if a user is human, completing a Series C of 115 million USD led by Blockchain Capital, with a16z Crypto and Bain Capital Crypto. In May 2023, World App (wallet + World ID) exceeds 2 million users.

The 24th July 2023 marks the official launch of Worldcoin out of beta in more than 35 countries, with the WLD token available on Binance, Coinbase and other exchanges (except in the US). However, that same month Kenya suspends operations over security and privacy concerns, accusing the project of espionage, whilst France and England open investigations. On the 30th August 2023, the AEPD (Spanish Data Protection Agency) receives complaints, confirming in December that it is analysing the case.

In March 2024, the AEPD orders the precautionary cessation of TFH operations in Spain for up to three months, citing insufficient information, collection of minors' data and absence of a consent withdrawal mechanism. TFH appeals the measure alleging that the AEPD circumvents the established GDPR process. In May 2024, Hong Kong orders Worldcoin to cease all operations, whilst Bavaria's BayLDA initiates a formal audit. TFH implements Personal Custody for new registrations and allows the deletion of iris code for previous users. In June 2024, TFH voluntarily agrees to extend the suspension in Spain until the end of 2024 or until BayLDA's resolution.

In October 2024, the project experiences a complete rebranding: Worldcoin becomes called World Network, launches Orb 2.0 with AI processing five times faster, 5G and Face Auth as a biometric alternative, and presents World Chain, L2 blockchain on Ethereum dedicated to verified users with free gas. In December 2024, BayLDA issues a corrective measures order on biometric data processing, whilst Spain orders World to delete its users' biometric data. In January 2025, Brazil bans all TFH operations through ANPD order with daily fines of 50,000 reals, followed in May by Indonesia and Kenya, the latter through High Court ruling declaring operations illegal.

On the 1st May 2025, World officially launches in the US, allowing users to scan their iris at physical locations with Orb and receive 16 WLD, listing on Coinbase except in New York. Sam Altman and Alex Blania announce alliance with Visa for a debit card that converts WLD to fiat, along with integrations with Tinder, Stripe, Zoom and Razer. In June 2025, USDC is integrated into World Chain for dollar transfers. By April 2026, WLD reaches new lows following Elon Musk's criticism in a lawsuit against OpenAI, with more than 18 million verified users globally. The circulating supply represents 49% of the total 10,000 million WLD, whilst the daily unlock of approximately 5.1 million tokens generates structural selling pressure. A 43% reduction in daily unlocks is scheduled for the 24th July 2026.

World (formerly Worldcoin) operates as a digital identity system that combines three components: World ID as a proof-of-humanity verification protocol, the WLD token (ERC-20 on Ethereum with its own layer 2 called World Chain), and World App as an integrated wallet. The core process requires users to undergo iris scanning using the Orb, a physical device 15 centimetres in diameter manufactured by TFH that incorporates a specialised optical system. This device captures high-definition images of the user's iris, generates a unique iris code based on biometric patterns, and transmits this encrypted code to the user's phone, permanently eliminating the original images from the device according to TFH.

Uniqueness verification is carried out by comparing the iris code against a distributed database using SMPC (Secure Multi-Party Computation), avoiding centralised storage of biometric data. If no match with existing codes is detected, the World ID is generated, a cryptographic identifier that allows users to prove their humanity to third-party applications through zero-knowledge proofs, without revealing personal information. The WLD token has a maximum supply of 10,000 million units, with current daily emissions of approximately 5.1 million tokens that will experience a 43% reduction on 24th July 2026. Free distribution varies geographically: US users receive 16 WLD per verification, whilst rewards in developing countries have fluctuated, with TFH and the Worldcoin Foundation maintaining significant allocations subject to release schedules. WLD is not available in all countries due to regulatory restrictions, and more than 90% of the circulating supply is concentrated in the 100 largest wallets, a high level of concentration that is subject to scrutiny by the community.

Data verified against external sources. Some values may have changed since the last update.