Worldcoin (WLD) Price Tanks 12% After OpenAI Ousts Sam Altman, What’s Next?

On Friday, November 17, OpenAI – the company behind the widely popular ChatGPT platform, announced the ouster of Sam Altman from the board of directors. This comes as a shock to the broader AI community as Open AI said that they have lost confidence in Altman, who is quite a popular figure in the generative AI space.

Worldcoin (WLD) Price Tanks 12%

Soon as the news came the Worldcoin (WLD) price tanked by a whopping 12% slipping under $2. WLD is the native cryptocurrency of Sam Altman’s WorldCoin project.

Worldcoin acquires users by scanning their irises using its device called Orb. This process generates an “iris code” or “World ID” for users, offering access to the project’s application and creating a “digital passport.” The verification system enables individuals to authenticate their identity, and the assigned iris code prevents the acquisition of multiple identities.

Earlier this year, Sam Altman announced the launch of Worldcoin’s native crypto WLD to incentivize users to sign up for the platform. With multiple signups to Worldcoin, the project has been gaining fast traction that also reflected in the WLD price shooting all the way to $2.5 soon after the launch of July. Also, the listing of Worldcoin (WLD) by some popular exchanges like Binance provided the much-required liquidity boost.

Will WLD Survive?

While Sam Altman has been pushing the Digital iris WorldCoin project hard in the market, it continues to face scrutiny. Furthermore, due to the SEC’s security rules, Worldcoin hasn’t launched the WLD crypto in the US.

Worldcoin encountered resistance from countries such as Kenya in August, leading to a suspension of its initiative to scan citizens’ eyes, despite initial directives. Critics argue that the project, which primarily focuses on developing economies, has faced backlash. Participants outside the U.S. and certain other nations receive 25 WLD tokens, approximately valued at $48, upon signing up, raising concerns about potential exploitation.

Tiago Sada, who serves as the head of product for Tools for Humanity and contributes significantly to Worldcoin, defended the distribution of free tokens and the project’s focus on developing countries. He argued that many projects in the crypto and tech industries target emerging markets because they are generally more accessible for operations.