Grayscale’s Worldcoin ETF Bid Lands as a Nasdaq Firm Holds 8% of WLD

Grayscale filed a registration statement on July 20 for a spot Worldcoin exchange-traded fund, and the token jumped roughly 4% to about $0.37 on the news. The filing proposes listing on Nasdaq under the ticker GWLD, using the same generic listing standards now fast-tracking a wave of altcoin funds through the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

But the paperwork that Grayscale hopes will win Wall Street’s trust also does something else: it spells out, in plain SEC language, why WLD carries more risk than almost anything else Grayscale has ever wrapped. And it lands as a little-known Nasdaq treasury company, not Grayscale, sits on the single largest disclosed pile of WLD on earth.

Grayscale’s Ten-Day Sprint to File for GWLD

The filing moved fast even by crypto-ETF standards. Grayscale formed the Worldcoin Trust on July 10 and filed its S-1 just ten days later, according to a Yahoo Finance report citing the SEC filing.

BitGo Bank & Trust, N.A. would hold the actual WLD as custodian, while BNY Mellon would serve as transfer agent running the fund’s books. Shares would track the CoinDesk Worldcoin Benchmark Rate, and the trust plans in-kind creations and redemptions through baskets of 10,000 shares, with authorized participants able to deliver WLD directly or route cash through liquidity providers.

Grayscale left the management fee, initial seed investment and per-share WLD amount blank, standard practice for an early registration statement that still needs amendments before it can go effective. As a passive vehicle, the trust would hold WLD as its only asset and use no leverage or derivatives.

Why the SEC’s Fast Lane Made This Possible

None of this would move at this speed without a rule change. Before 2025, an issuer needed separate SEC approvals for both the fund and the exchange listing it, a process that could stretch up to 240 days. Generic listing standards approved by the SEC cut that ceiling to less than a third of that window.

Grayscale has been testing the edges of that framework all year. It launched the first multi-crypto exchange-traded product in the country in September 2025, and it recently converted its actively run rival got company, T. Rowe Price, into the spotlight when the asset manager won approval for an actively managed fund spanning 15 different coins. Worldcoin is simply the newest name to reach the front of a queue that keeps getting shorter.

The Nasdaq Company Already Sitting on 8% of WLD

Here is what almost none of Monday’s coverage mentioned: a Nasdaq-listed company called Eightco Holdings (ticker ORBS) already holds 283,452,700 WLD tokens, or roughly 8% of the token’s entire circulating supply of about 3.5 billion, according to Grayscale’s own prospectus figures. No other public company has disclosed a larger position.

Eightco built that stake as the anchor of a treasury strategy built around three assets: an indirect $90 million stake in OpenAI held through special purpose vehicles, an $18 million position in MrBeast’s Beast Industries, and its WLD holdings. As of July 15, the company put its total treasury value at approximately $406 million, spanning WLD, OpenAI, Beast Industries, ether and cash.

• 283.45 million WLD – about 8% of circulating supply, roughly 29% of Eightco’s treasury as of July 15
• $90 million – indirect OpenAI equity through SPVs, about 22% of the treasury
• 16,278 ETH – held alongside the company’s crypto positions
• $148 million – cash and stablecoins on hand

Eightco’s chief executive is Kevin O’Donnell, and its board includes Tom Lee, the Fundstrat research head who also chairs Bitmine Immersion Technologies. Lee framed the bet in blunt terms in the company’s own disclosure.

We believe ORBS is uniquely positioned for the future. As AI becomes more personal and autonomous, we expect proof of human will become one of the most valuable assets in the digital economy.

Tom Lee, board member of Eightco Holdings, said that in the company’s July 16 treasury update. If GWLD launches and pulls fresh institutional money into WLD, Eightco’s existing stake stands to gain value and liquidity without the company lifting a finger, an upside Grayscale’s own filing does not mention because it has no formal connection to the fund at all.

What Risks Does Grayscale’s Own Filing Admit to?

Grayscale’s prospectus discloses that WLD’s reliance on biometric data collection is one of the product’s principal risks, citing regulatory restrictions, enforcement actions and court decisions across multiple jurisdictions. It also flags World Chain’s centralized sequencer, WLD’s volatility, and the chance regulators could later classify the token as a security, any of which could force the trust to unwind.

One summary of the filing put the regulatory count at seven countries with formal bans tied to the project’s iris-scanning Orb devices. Independent tracking of the record, spanning 2023 through 2025, shows an even longer trail of enforcement action.

• Kenya suspended Orb verification in August 2023, the first country to act
• Spain imposed a temporary ban in March 2024 over data collected from minors
• Hong Kong ordered a full stop in May 2024 after the company admitted scanning 8,302 residents’ eyes and faces
• Germany‘s Bavarian data authority ordered biometric data deleted in December 2024 for violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• Brazil banned token payments for biometric data in January 2025, with a daily fine risk of 50,000 reais (about $8,800) for noncompliance
• Indonesia suspended operations in May 2025 pending a licensing probe
• Philippines issued a cease and desist order in October 2025
• Thailand ordered a halt and data deletion in November 2025

Analyst research on the Orb has separately flagged that the device remains centralized under Tools for Humanity, the company Altman co-founded, which research firm Forrester has said leaves the project facing headwinds in mass adoption even as it courts partnerships with consumer apps.

The filing also states that roughly 90% of WLD sits in the hands of its 100 largest wallets, a concentration level that would be unusual for a fund marketed to retail brokerage accounts. And the token itself remains about 97% below its all-time high of $11.80, reached in March 2024, according to CryptoBriefing’s review of the filing.

From a Courtroom Win to a Stay Order

Grayscale knows this road. Its Bitcoin Trust converted into a spot ETF in January 2024 only after the firm beat the SEC in federal court, a fight that eventually led Grayscale to also roll part of that fund into a lower-cost Bitcoin Mini Trust structure. Spot funds for Solana and Dogecoin followed in late 2025, backed by the Solana Trust’s own base prospectus filing with the SEC.

The path was not always smooth. In July 2025, the SEC approved Grayscale’s plan to convert its Digital Large Cap Fund into a multi-asset ETF, then immediately stayed the launch. Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart offered competing theories at the time for why, with Seyffart suggesting regulators wanted a broader digital-asset framework settled first. That framework arrived weeks later, and the fund finally launched on September 19, 2025 as the first multi-crypto exchange-traded product in the country.

Grayscale has also pursued an amended NEAR ETF filing tied to renewed AI-token trading and a spot BNB filing it called a major Wall Street move, alongside Hyperliquid funds already in market. Worldcoin is simply the latest name added to that list.

The Supply Cut Coming July 24

Seyffart confirmed the Worldcoin filing on social media within hours, posting simply, “LOOK INTO THE ORB.” The joke undersells how strange the timing is. Four days after Grayscale’s filing, Worldcoin’s own tokenomics shift.

Daily WLD issuance is scheduled to drop by about 43% on July 24, from roughly 5.1 million tokens to 2.9 million, with the community-allocation portion of that halving from 3.2 million to 1.6 million a day. The change was fixed in the project’s original token schedule, not triggered by the ETF news, but it slows the sell pressure from new supply right as Grayscale tries to build institutional demand.

Nothing about GWLD can trade yet. The SEC still has to let the registration statement go effective, and Nasdaq has to confirm WLD meets its generic listing standards, a process Grayscale’s GDLC experience showed can stall even after initial approval. Grayscale has not said when it expects either step to clear.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does BitGo actually custody for the Worldcoin ETF?

BitGo Bank & Trust, N.A. would hold the fund’s actual WLD tokens as custodian, while BNY Mellon serves as transfer agent keeping the trust’s books. Authorized participants can create or redeem the fund’s 10,000-share baskets using WLD directly or cash routed through liquidity providers, according to Grayscale’s registration statement.

Why did Worldcoin change its name to World?

The project dropped the Worldcoin name for World in October 2024 as it expanded beyond its token into a wider identity and payments platform. The WLD ticker and the Worldcoin name still appear across most financial coverage and exchange listings, which is why the ETF Grayscale filed keeps the older name.

What happens to WLD supply on July 24, 2026?

Worldcoin’s daily token issuance falls by about 43% that day, from roughly 5.1 million to 2.9 million WLD, under a schedule set at the token’s 2023 launch. The community-emissions share of that issuance is cut in half, from 3.2 million to 1.6 million tokens daily, while insider allocations shrink by a similar proportion.

Is Eightco Holdings connected to Grayscale’s ETF filing?

No formal connection exists. Eightco Holdings is a separate Nasdaq company that built its own treasury around WLD, OpenAI and Beast Industries stakes well before Grayscale’s filing. It has no role in the fund itself, but its 283 million WLD position would likely gain value and liquidity if GWLD eventually launches and draws new institutional buyers into the token.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice; cryptocurrency assets including WLD are highly volatile and carry regulatory risk, so consult a licensed financial professional before making any investment decision, and note that figures here are accurate as of publication on July 21, 2026.