Worldcoin faces criticism after tweak to token unlock schedule

• Crypto personality Defi Squared released a post on X accusing Worldcoin of using high FDV as tool for price manipulation.
• Defi Squared also suggests that the unlocks will give insiders 60% of the total circulating supply within a year.
• WLD is down over 13% in the past 24 hours.

The Worldcoin Foundation was the subject of criticism on Wednesday after certain crypto figures spoke against its upcoming token unlock next week

WLD down as lock-up event draws closer

Crypto personality Defi Squared made a post on X, alleging that Worldcoin's token launch will provide one of the lowest floats the crypto industry has recorded, with just 2.7% being released into circulation. He claimed that Worldcoin's team had intentionally manipulated the token's price amid its limited circulating supply.

From a total supply of 10 billion tokens, Worldcoin released 140 million WLD at its initial launch in 2023. Since then, only 278 million tokens have been in circulation, with a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $26 billion. Defi Squared suggests that the high FDV is intentional and a deliberate plot to manipulate the market's price.

He claimed the Worldcoin Foundation team had tried to influence the token's price through their tokenomics design, which involves strategic announcements before unlocks, market maker contracts, and changes made to emissions. He goes on to suggest that this latest lock-up schedule extension is a plot to stir market sentiment.

Additionally, he revealed that insiders will possess 60% of the total circulating supply after one year of the unlock event, which gives them full control of the price.

"60% is a wild proportion - it means the majority of the ecosystem purely exists for VCs to dump. This seems to directly counter the justification that the float is being left low right now to benefit UBI recipients."

The post attracted the attention of other crypto personalities who also attested to the high FDV that Worldcoin has generated since its launch. ZachXBT claimed that WLD is "the biggest scam token of the bull run."

"Everything about WLD is a scam, from the tokenomics to the biometric data collection to the unlocks, to the blatant price and market manipulation," said Wazz Crypto on X. 

The price of WLD dropped as the criticism escalated, down 13.8% over the past 24 hours.