Sam Altman’s Worldcoin digital token goes on wild ride over OpenAI drama
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WorldCoin's iris-scanning device. The digital token is a blockchain-based system that uses a small orb to scan people’s eyeballs to generate a unique digital identity.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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Mumbai – The Worldcoin digital token from a project co-founded by Mr Sam Altman has been among the most volatile in crypto recently as the saga over the OpenAI chief executive’s ouster and potential reinstatement
The token began sliding on Nov 16 from a peak of US$2.48 as digital asset markets retreated, a drop that was exacerbated by Mr Altman’s firing the day after. Worldcoin eventually hit a low of US$1.84 in the hours after his exit, CoinGecko data showed.
Worldcoin, also known as WLD, has since rallied 18 per cent in 24 hours to retake the US$2.40 level amid efforts by a group of OpenAI executives and investors to reinstate Mr Altman as CEO.
The token has a market value of about US$280 million (S$375.4 million), ranking it 157th in the crypto market, according to CoinGecko as at 8.51am in Singapore on Monday.
“It’s all driven by Altman news flow and concerns over his ouster at OpenAI,” said Mr Richard Galvin, co-founder at Digital Asset Capital Management.
The token “rallied back as it became clearer there was no key negative event that drove the board’s move”, he said.
Worldcoin is a blockchain-based system that uses a small orb to scan people’s eyeballs to generate a unique digital identity. Mr Altman co-founded the company behind it, named Tools for Humanity.
Holders of a so-called “World ID” digital identity can also receive Worldcoin tokens. The coins are not available in the United States due to a lack of regulatory clarity.
World IDs are meant to establish personhood in a future enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), where distinguishing between humans and machines may become harder. The project has stirred both privacy and ethical concerns.
Worldcoin did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the gyrations in the token over the past few days.
A group of 90 crypto coins linked to the AI theme has also posted volatile performance, including a 7 per cent jump in combined market value over the past 24 hours to about US$6.5 billion, CoinGecko figures showed. BLOOMBERG
