Worldcoin is set to begin paying its Orb Operators — those rewarded for scanning people’s eyes with its native Worldcoin token, phasing out USD Coin as early as next month.
According to an Oct. 22 announcement, Worldcoin says Orb Operators — “independent ecosystem participants” tasked with scanning people’s irises in exchange for WLD tokens — will cease to be paid in USDC as of November. The change will affect most jurisdictions.
Worldcoin said the move to pay orb operators entirely in WLD was part of a “transitional phase” following the official launch of the project on July 24. On Oct. 10, the Worldcoin Foundation kicked off a pilot program to grant select operators with payment in WLD tokens.
In the blog post, Worldcoin noted that the Worldcoin tokens are currently not available to people or companies who are living in the United States, as well as “certain other restricted territories.”
Data from Worldcoin’s official Dune Analytics dashboard shows that the supply of the WLD token has grown from approximately 100 million at the time of launch to around 134 million at the time of publication.
According to Worldcoin, a total of five market-making entities received the 100 million WLD loans, which were due to expire on Oct. 24, 2023. However, Worldcoin said that it would extend the expiration date of these loans to Dec. 15, with a reduced amount of 75 million WLD.
The price of Worldcoin’s native WLD token has regained slightly in recent weeks following a somewhat prolonged post-launch slump. WLD reached an all-time high of $2.65 on July 27 before falling 63% to reach as low as $0.97 on Sept. 13. It is currently changing hands for $1.64, according to data from TradingView.
