An update: Circulating supply evolution and renewal of market maker loan agreements

Since the launch of the WLD token on July 24, 2023, more than 800,000 new and existing Orb-verified users have claimed around 34M WLD in free user grants. Because of this, the circulating supply has grown steadily over time from approximately 100M to just above 134M WLD, or 1.34% of the 10B total supply (see figure).

Evolution of circulating supply since WLD launch

The WLD token was launched with a relatively low circulating supply of just above 100M WLD. This was due to the goal of creating a network of as many human beings as possible. To achieve this, the majority of the WLD token supply will be given to new and existing users in the form of user grants over the years to come.

As of October 22, 2023, the circulating supply is composed of (a) 100M WLD in loans extended to market makers, (b) approx. 34.3M WLD in claimed user grants and (c) a small amount of WLD that has been received by Operators as Operator rewards so far (see below).

Renewal of market maker agreements with reduced loan amounts

At launch, World Assets Ltd. (a subsidiary of the Worldcoin Foundation) entered into loan agreements with five market makers operating outside of the US. The goal of engaging these entities was to ensure sufficient liquidity for WLD traded on centralized exchanges outside the US, to facilitate price discovery and to enhance price stability of WLD. Collectively, the five entities received loans of 100M WLD, with those loans due to expire on October 24, 2023 (see the Worldcoin Whitepaper for details). 

World Assets Ltd. has decided to extend the initial loan agreements until December 15, 2023, with a reduced loan amount of 75M WLD in total, while leaving all other terms of the agreements unchanged. Thus, on October 24, 2023, the market makers will return 25M WLD of the currently outstanding loan, or alternatively they may elect to purchase any amount of tokens up to the loan amount to be returned. As per the original agreements, the price per WLD for this purchase will be set according to the following formula: $2.00 + ($0.04 * X), with X being equal to (i) the amount of tokens being purchased, divided by (ii) one million.

As a consequence, on October 24th, the circulating supply will reduce by an amount up to 25M WLD, depending on how many tokens the market makers elect to purchase.

Operator rewards made in WLD

Worldcoin Operators are independent ecosystem participants who operate Orbs, custom imaging devices developed for the Worldcoin project by Tools for Humanity (TFH). Worldcoin Operators receive Operator rewards for verifying people’s uniqueness and humanness. During a transitional phase after launch, these Operator rewards were paid in USDC. This transitional phase is now nearing its end, at which point Worldcoin Operators will instead receive rewards in the form of WLD.

On October 10, 2023, the Worldcoin Foundation kicked off a pilot program, granting rewards to select Operators in WLD. Thus, as of October 10, 2023, the Operator rewards paid out in WLD are also contributing to the growing circulating supply of WLD (for live metrics on Operator rewards, see Dune).

In November 2023, the Worldcoin Foundation expects that the transition process will be completed such that all Operators will receive WLD going forward (subject to the “Availability” of WLD in the corresponding country - see below).

Availability: Worldcoin (WLD) tokens are not available to people or companies who are residents of, or are located, incorporated or have a registered agent in, the United States or certain other restricted territories. However, World ID and TFH’s World App remain available in the United States. For details, go to: www.worldcoin.org/tos. Crypto products can be highly risky. Important User Information can be found at www.worldcoin.org/risks.