Worldcoin, an eyeball-scanning human identification project, is facing allegations of price manipulation and being a scam. This comes a day after delaying the unlocking of 80% of its native token.
On July 16, Worldcoin’s developer, Tools for Humanity (TFH), announced changes to the unlock schedule for its native token, WLD. Originally, these tokens were to be unlocked over three years.
However, the new schedule extends this period to over five years, starting on July 24, with tokens being progressively unlocked until July 2028.
This change aims to prevent a significant increase in token supply that could lower the price.
Following the announcement, WLD prices surged, showing a 68% increase in just two days.
According to crypto data tracker CoinGecko, WLD rose from $1.90 on July 15 to $2.81 on July 16. The price further increased to $3.20 on July 17 before settling at $3.11.
On July 17, DeFi Squared, a decentralized finance insights account, published a detailed post on X, accusing the Worldcoin team of price manipulation and misdirection.
The post stated: “the token’s daily price moves have been on many occasions influenced by the team as they actively make changes to emissions, market maker contracts, and well-timed announcements before unlocks.”
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It also suggested that someone from the team may have used insider information to front-run buying the news before it was announced.
Crypto investigator ZachXBT also commented, labeling Worldcoin the “biggest scam” and accusing venture capitalists and team members of being complicit.
ZachXBT stated, “the biggest scam token of the bull run,” and criticized them for doing nothing to prevent it, urging them to feel ashamed.
ZachXBT also responded to a Worldcoin thread, alleging that the project allowed insiders to continue profiting off its “scam.”
Cointelegraph reached out to Worldcoin for comments but did not receive an immediate response.
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