Sam Altman’s World Sells 239M WLD Tokens for $65M Amid Record Lows

Sam Altman’s World Foundation just sold 239 million WLD tokens worth $65 million in a week, even as the token crashed to an all-time low. The massive over-the-counter sale, announced on March 28 via X, raises fresh questions about the project’s cash needs, its token holders’ future, and a looming supply cliff that could shake the market in July.

What the $65 Million OTC Token Sale Looks Like

3 The World Foundation, the organization supporting the digital identity project Worldcoin (WLD), completed a $65 million over-the-counter (OTC) token sale. 3 World Assets Ltd, a subsidiary of the foundation, executed the block trades with four private counterparties over the past week. 3 The transactions, with initial settlements beginning March 20, were priced at an average of $0.2719 per token. That works out to roughly 239 million WLD tokens changing hands.

The World Foundation did not reveal the identities of the four buyers. It also did not break down how much each counterparty purchased. 4The initial sale took place on March 20, 2026, paving the way for subsequent transactions, which were facilitated through a secured multisigned wallet owned by World Assets.

Here is a quick breakdown of the deal structure:

6 The Foundation took the unusual step of deleting its original post and reissuing a corrected version, citing an error in the reported average price. That move did not go unnoticed by crypto watchers on X.

World Foundation WLD token sale $65 million OTC deal 2026

Where the $65 Million Is Going

3 The foundation stated that the off-ramped capital will be deployed toward core operational expenses, including intensive research and development, ecosystem expansion, and the continued manufacturing of its proprietary iris-scanning hardware, known as “Orbs.”

Those Orb devices sit at the heart of the World project. They scan a person’s iris to create a unique digital identity called World ID. 4The World ID has successfully verified nearly 18 million unique users globally, contributing to a growing community of around 39 million World App users across more than 160 countries.

But the foundation offered no detailed spending breakdown. It did not say how much goes to staffing, how much to Orb production, or how much to R&D.

6 Of the $65 million raised, $25 million worth of tokens are subject to a six-month lockup. 5 The rest were immediately available to trade, meaning buyers could move those tokens on the open market right away.

That means roughly $40 million worth of WLD could already be circulating in the market today.

WLD Token Price Crashes 97% From Peak

The timing of this sale stings for WLD holders.

9 WLD briefly hit a historic low of $0.24, a 97% drop from its March 2024 peak. While the token has since recovered slightly, it remains deeply underwater for anyone who bought in during the early hype. 13 The price of Worldcoin (WLD) is $0.2715 today with a 24-hour trading volume of $93,359,665.56, representing a 0.90% price increase in the last 24 hours and a 13.10% price decline in the past 7 days.

Key price levels traders are watching right now:

• Support zone: $0.2500 to $0.2600
• Resistance zone: $0.2800 to $0.2900
• All-time high: $11.74 (March 2024)
• All-time low: $0.24 (March 2026)

3 For about 2 years, Worldcoin has been selling WLD through platforms like Flow Traders and Wintermute, doing so every few days. This latest $65 million sale is not an isolated event. It is part of a pattern that has weighed on the token for months. 11 Eightco revealed holdings of 277 million WLD tokens, making it the largest public holder. 11 The firm, linked to Tom Lee, also upped its OpenAI equity stake. That is one bright spot, showing at least some institutional conviction.

The July 2026 Token Unlock Could Change Everything

If the $65 million sale worries you, what is coming in July should keep you up at night.

30 Worldcoin will unlock about 52.51% of its total token supply on 23 July 2026 at 17:00 UTC, sharply increasing circulating supply in a single event. 30 According to the DefiLlama unlock schedule, this is one of the largest remaining cliffs, meaning a major portion of previously illiquid tokens becomes transferable.

That is roughly 5.25 billion tokens becoming available in a market where only about 3.1 billion currently circulate.

6 That translates to approximately 4.79 million new tokens entering circulation every single day following that date. 6 A flood of supply at that scale, into a market that has already shed more than 12% in the past week alone, is not a trivial event. 29 The Worldcoin allocation includes Worldcoin Community at 75.00%, TFH Investors at 13.78%, Initial Development Team at 10.02% and TFH Reserve at 1.20%. Most of these locked tokens belong to community allocations, but a significant chunk also belongs to early investors and team members who may look to cash out.

Regulatory Walls Keep Closing In

The price and supply problems do not exist in a vacuum. World faces growing pushback from governments around the globe.

21 Authorities in Indonesia suspended World ID registration due to compliance concerns. Brazil banned the platform’s eye-scanning operation, citing data privacy issues. 28 Worldcoin faces intense scrutiny and operational bans in key markets like Spain, Kenya, Hong Kong, and Brazil, with authorities citing violations of data protection laws, arguing that offering tokens for biometric data compromises valid consent. 21 The most recent setback occurred in Thailand, where authorities raided an iris-scanning site linked to Sam Altman’s World project last October.

Countries with known regulatory actions against Worldcoin:

• Brazil (eye-scanning ban)
• Kenya (data privacy restrictions)
• Spain (operational ban)
• Indonesia (registration suspended)
• Hong Kong (scrutiny)
• Germany (investigation)
• Thailand (site raided)

Despite all this, the project keeps growing its user base. 4The operational infrastructure has increased to accommodate 948 active Orbs, with a notable intake of over 60,000 new accounts alongside 16,000 verifications conducted just in the past week.

35 Worldcoin has established collaborations with several consumer platforms, including Razer and Tinder, leveraging the technology for combating automated bots in gaming, dating, and other online sectors.

The road ahead for Sam Altman’s World project is a tightrope walk between ambition and reality. On one side, there is a growing global user base, real partnerships, and a vision to build the world’s largest identity network. On the other, there is a token down 97% from its peak, a $65 million sale that signals urgent cash needs, a massive supply unlock just four months away, and regulators in at least seven countries pushing back hard. For WLD holders, the next few months will be critical. The July unlock alone could reshape the entire market for this token. Whether World can turn its mission into lasting value or continues to bleed trust alongside its token price is the question that matters most right now.

What do you think about World’s decision to sell 239 million tokens at record lows? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.