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- From November, Worldcoin Orb operators will receive payments in native WLD tokens instead of the USDC payments.
- Since the project launch, the Worldcoin WLD token supply has grown by 34 million to date amid demand.
The iris-scanning Worldcoin project created a major buzz in the market during its launch earlier this year on July 24. Now, Worldcoin is preparing for a change in plans and will start paying its Orb operators in the native WLD tokens, while phasing out the USDC payments from November 23.
In an announcement made on October 22, Worldcoin revealed that Orb Operators, described as “independent ecosystem participants” responsible for scanning individuals’ irises in return for WLD tokens, will no longer receive payment in USDC starting from November. This adjustment will impact most regions.
Worldcoin explained that the decision to compensate orb operators exclusively in WLD tokens is part of a “transitional phase” that commenced after the project’s official launch on July 24. As of October 10, the Worldcoin Foundation initiated a pilot program to provide certain operators with WLD token payments. The official announcement notes:
In November 2023, the Worldcoin Foundation expects that the transition process will be completed such that all Operators will receive WLD going forward.
The blog post from Worldcoin highlighted that Worldcoin tokens are presently unavailable to individuals or businesses residing in the United States and in specific other restricted regions.
Last month in September 2023, Worldcoin also unveiled some major updates to achieve lower transaction fees and offer data compression. The update also led to the World App recording its highest transaction volume later on.
Worldcoin (WLD) Token Growth
According to data available on Worldcoin’s official Dune Analytics dashboard, the supply of the WLD token has increased from approximately 100 million at its launch to approximately 134 million at the time of this report. Out of these 134 million WLD tokens, 100 million were provided as loans to market makers, while the remaining 34 million were distributed to Orb operators and new users through “free user grants.”
Worldcoin disclosed that these 100 million WLD loans, originally set to expire on October 24, 2023, will now have their expiration date extended to December 15, with a reduced amount of 75 million WLD.
According to the announcement, the market makers will either return the remaining 25 million WLD or buy some or all of them, as agreed upon.
The WLD token’s price has shown signs of recovery in recent weeks after a notable decline post-launch. It reached its all-time high of $2.65 on July 27 but fell by 63%, hitting a low of $0.97 on September 13. As of now, it is trading at $1.64.
While some countries have welcomed the Worldcoin project, others have rejected it citing privacy concerns. South American countries like Argentina and Chile have welcomed Worldcoin with a large population creating their digital IDs through iris-scanning. On the other hand, Kenya has taken a strong stand citing privacy concerns while calling for regulations.
