Worldcoin token jumps over 20% with unlock for early contributors starting next week, period extended

Worldcoin, the human-verification crypto project co-founded by Open AI CEO Sam Altman, has announced that early contributors to its efforts will begin to see their WLD tokens unlock starting next week.

The project said the unlocking schedule for those tokens has also been extended.

"WLD tokens allocated to the investors and team members of Tools for Humanity (TFH), early contributors to the Worldcoin project, are scheduled to begin unlocking daily in a linear fashion," the project said in a blog post. "This week, TFH informed the Worldcoin Foundation that—in a move aligned with the long-term nature of Worldcoin’s mission— the unlock schedule for 80% of the WLD held by TFH’s team members and investors is being extended from 3 to 5 years."

The WLD token was up more than 22% to $2.44 at publication time, according to The Block Price Page.

Tools for Humanity is the lead developer and main proponent of the Worldcoin project. The project assigns people World IDs and tokens if they submit to having their eyeballs scanned by an orb to prove they are human. The company is run by CEO Alex Blania, who co-founded Worldcoin alongside Altman.

Investors and those working for Tools for Humanity have been allocated locked WLD tokens for "their respective contributions," the post said. 

Worldcoin said, "WLD grants for verified World ID holders are not affected," adding that "more than 211 million WLD have been claimed by World ID holders, representing more than 77% of the 275 million WLD currently in circulation."

The project stated that "7.22 billion WLD remaining in the Worldcoin Community pool, which is administered by the Worldcoin Foundation and its affiliate entity World Assets Ltd for the purpose of supporting the long-term sustainability of the Worldcoin project."

Tools for Humanity investor and team member tokens, which start unlocking next week, "will begin to enter the circulating supply of WLD," Tuesday's blog post also said.