Foreign media, citing Maelstrom research, reported that after Worldcoin's token WLD surged by approximately 60% in a week, the market is once again viewing the token as an AI-themed exposure within the crypto market. The article argues that if AI-related assets continue to attract capital and the new supply of tokens decreases, the price of WLD has the potential to rise further.
AI topics have once again drawn attention.
Maelstrom researcher Lukas Ruppert believes that as AI companies approach IPOs, investors are looking for related assets beyond stocks. Worldcoin, co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, focuses on digital identity and financial networks, and is therefore seen by some market participants as a reflection of the AI narrative in the crypto market.
The article mentions that OpenAI filed a confidential IPO prospectus on May 22, aiming for a September 2026 listing and planning to raise $60 billion, valuing the company at nearly $1 trillion. Anthropic also filed a draft prospectus after its latest round of funding. Maelstrom believes that the push for IPOs by these large AI companies is driving investment towards AI-related assets.
Since February, selling pressure has come from off-exchange placements.
The report points out that WLD had been under pressure since February before rebounding last week. Maelstrom attributes this to an off-exchange private token sale. Investors who acquired the tokens chose to short WLD perpetual contracts to hedge their risks, resulting in both increased spot circulation and selling pressure in derivatives.
The institution describes this situation as a typical "short-covering" scenario. In other words, prices are likely to remain under pressure until hedging positions are gradually covered and structural selling pressure weakens. Once this pressure subsides, the drag on prices from the supply side will also decrease.
Starting July 24th, unlocking will be reduced by 43%.
Maelstrom mentioned that the future trend of WLD will mainly depend on two changes. The first is the adjustment of the supply rhythm. Starting from July 24, the daily token unlocking volume of WLD will decrease by 43%, which means that the new supply entering the market every day will decrease significantly.
Secondly, there's the factor of institutional holdings. The article states that Eightco, a publicly traded company, currently holds approximately 283 million WLD tokens and has about $144 million in cash on hand. Given WLD's unlocked market value of approximately $2 billion, if the company continues to increase its holdings, a single institutional purchase could have a more significant impact on the price.
However, the report also points out that reduced supply does not necessarily lead to an increase. Maelstrom believes that WLD could only move to higher levels if the AI sector continues to be popular, institutions continue to allocate funds, and selling pressure slows down.
