Arthur Hayes Is Now All in on Worldcoin...

BitMEX co-founder and Maelstrom chief investment officer @CryptoHayes has shifted his focus squarely onto Worldcoin ($WLD), posting a pointed bullish thesis on X after recently exiting his positions in $ZEC and $HYPE.

"We still hold $WLD and are excited for Lord Elon to pump our bags," Hayes wrote, signalling he intends to ride the token through what he sees as a broader AI-driven market event. The move follows Hayes selling his full $HYPE and $NEAR positions, marking a sharp turn from his recent public support for both tokens. His rotation into $WLD has drawn considerable attention from traders watching his next move.

The AI IPO Angle

Maelstrom, amplified by Hayes, argues Worldcoin ($WLD) could act as a liquid crypto proxy for the coming AI IPO wave, with a target of $5 by August versus an unlocked market cap near $2 billion and a spot price around $0.52. The research note, authored by Maelstrom's Lukas Ruppert and titled "WLD Hated Rally," frames the token as an overlooked way to gain exposure to OpenAI-adjacent artificial intelligence upside.

OpenAI filed its IPO prospectus with the SEC on May 22, targeting a September 2026 debut with a potential valuation of up to $1 trillion. Anthropic followed by filing its own draft prospectus after announcing a fresh $65 billion funding round that valued it at $965 billion. Maelstrom's case is straightforward: with private AI companies commanding valuations in the hundreds of billions, $WLD, the only liquid token directly tied to an OpenAI co-founder, trades at a $2 billion unlocked market cap. If even a fraction of the speculative capital chasing AI exposure rotates into $WLD, the impact on a small-cap token would be outsized.

Supply Overhang and the July Unlock Cut

The note highlights a short-heavy setup, with $WLD down year-to-date and deeply negative perpetual funding, alongside a $65 million March OTC round (with $25 million locked for six months) and a 43% drop in daily unlocks scheduled for July 24. Maelstrom describes the current positioning as a "textbook short overhang," arguing that the coming reduction in token emissions could act as a catalyst to unwind that pressure.

Worldcoin will cut daily $WLD unlocks by about 43% from July 24, reducing daily token emissions from roughly 5.1 million $WLD to approximately 2.9 million $WLD. On the institutional side, Eightco Holdings (NASDAQ: ORBS) holds 283,452,700 $WLD tokens, representing approximately 8.3% of circulating supply, making it the largest publicly disclosed institutional holder.

Worldcoin's core product is World ID, a biometric verification system that uses Orb devices to scan a person's iris, generating a zero-knowledge proof that confirms they are a unique human without revealing their identity. As the AI sector continues to evolve and discussions around digital identity gain momentum, Worldcoin remains one of the most closely watched projects at the intersection of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency.

$WLD is up approximately 14% in the past 24 hours and is trading around $0.50. The token remains well below its all-time high, but Worldcoin's latest rally follows a long decline that began earlier this year, with $WLD still far below its all-time high of $11.74 from March 2024, though it has more than doubled over the past month.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions.

Sources:
CryptoRank: Arthur Hayes Says Worldcoin Could Moon to $5 by August
Crypto.news: Worldcoin Price Surges 62% as Maelstrom Sees AI IPO Trade in WLD
Finance Feeds: Maelstrom Just Made Its Boldest Worldcoin Bet Yet