Sam Altman’s Worldcoin tumbles 20% as OpenAI’s $40B deal and Ghibli hype fail to lift WLD price

• World Network (Worldcoin) price rebounded by 3% to hit $0.7 on Thursday, following 21% in losses over the past seven days. 
• OpenAI's new "Ghibli" feature, and a $40 billion funding deal with Japanese firm SoftBank, dominated headlines during that period.
• A longer upper shadow on Thursday's 24-hour candlestick suggests WLD continues to face sell-side pressure.

Over the past week, OpenAI, led by Sam Altman, announced major developments, including a $40 billion funding deal with Japanese conglomerate SoftBank and the viral launch of its Ghibli-themed image generation feature. 

However, despite these bullish catalysts, Worldcoin (WLD) price plummeted 21% to $0.70, raising concerns among investors.

Worldcoin (WLD) price action falters despite optimism surrounding OpenAI’s Ghibli launch and $40B deal

World Network formerly called Worldcoin (WLD)  has now shed over $300 million from its valuation in the past week, losing its unicorn status in the process. 

World Network (Worldcoin) price performance, April 3 | Source: Coinmarketcap

Drawing insights from Coinmarketcap data, WLD is currently trading at $0.7, rising 3% on Thursday.

Zooming out, WLD market capitalization now stands at $833 million, reflecting a 21% drop-off from the recent high of $1.2 billion recorded on March 26.

Despite the slump, Worldcoin’s parent company OpenAI made two significant announcements.

First, on March 25, OpenAI unveiled the Ghibli image-generation feature, which instantly went viral across social media platforms. 

CEO Sam Altman took to X, to announce the image gen launch on Tuesday. 

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confirms Ghibli image gen, April 1, 2025 | Source: X.com/Sama

Secondly, OpenAI also announced a $40 billion funding deal with SoftBank, valuing the company at $300 billion.

This makes SoftBank the latest major investor after Microsoft, which has already invested $13 billion in OpenAI, according to recent filings from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

Despite these bullish developments, WLD price has struggled to gain traction, signaling deeper market concerns beyond its association with OpenAI.

Why is Worldcoin price falling despite recent bullish catalysts from OpenAI?

Since its launch in July 2023, Worldcoin has shown a pattern of strong price reactions to OpenAI-related news. When OpenAI launched its Sora video-generation feature in February 2024, WLD price skyrocketed over 250%, reaching all-time highs above $8 by March 10. 

Worldcoin price performance after OpenAI Launched Sora video generation tool in February 2024 | Source: TradingView

This historical trend led to expectations that WLD would rally following the latest OpenAI announcements.

However, market data indicates that broader macroeconomic headwinds from Trump’s tariffs are overshadowing these positive catalysts. 

The ongoing impact of Trump’s aggressive tariff policies has placed bearish pressure on U.S. stocks, as impacted countries like China, India, the UK and the EU all weigh retaliatory measures. 

NVIDIA (NVDA) price plunges 7.8% within 24 hours of Trump’s tariff announcement, April 3, 2025 | Source: NASDAQ

Hence, the negative momentum surrounding US-traded technology stocks, including NVIDIA and Open AI, has dampened sentiment in the crypto-AI sector. As a result, despite OpenAI’s dual announcements, Worldcoin has failed to sustain any meaningful upside momentum.

Worldcoin price forecast: 30% haircut ahead if bears trigger $0.50 reversal

OpenAI’s recent positive headlines nullified by Trump’s tariffs, WLD price may continue to lag unless a clear bullish catalyst emerges within the crypto sector or broader US stock markets.

Technical indicators on the WLDUSD chart below further emphasizes this stance. 

First, the longer upper shadow on the 24-hour candlestick on Thursday suggests WLD continues to face sell-side pressure nullifying short-term rebound momentum. 

Worldcoin price forecast | WLDUSDT

Beyond that, the Donchian Channel’s upper band at $0.986 and the middle band at $0.845 indicate resistance zones that bulls must reclaim for sustained upside. Currently, WLD trades below the median, showing sellers maintain control.

A move above $0.85 could trigger a short-term recovery, but failure to break this level may result in renewed selling.

The MACD remains bearish, with the signal line at -0.060 and the MACD line barely improving at -0.001.

The weak momentum suggests that downward pressure could persist unless strong volume inflows emerge.

A breakdown below $0.70 could accelerate losses toward the $0.50 psychological support, marking another 30% decline.