- Worldcoin (WDC) and Sam Altman’s Worldcoin are unrelated projects.
- WDC’s recent price surge may have been fueled by confusion over the namesake.
- Investors need to exercise caution and conduct thorough research before investing.
Worldcoin, the eye-scanning crypto project with Open AI CEO Sam Altman as co-founder, is recently sparking debate about privacy and digital identity. This discussion has accompanied the surge of an unrelated token – WorldCoin (WDC).
WorldCoin, which has no relation to Altman’s Worldcoin, experienced a significant surge between May 15 and May 17, despite no new updates from the project. Instead, the surge likely came from the latest buzz around Altman’s project, leading to confusion among investors.
The obscure token, launched in 2013 with a market cap of about $9 million, seemingly benefited from the success of its namesake.
WorldCoin and Worldcoin
WorldCoin is an older crypto that remained mostly unnoticed, with a relatively low market cap and volume. Launched in 2013, the project claims to be the ninth oldest crypto in the world. Since then, it has seen little development.
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On the other hand, Sam Altman launched his Worldcoin in 2019 and is pioneering an eyeball-scanning technique for identity verification. His Worldcoin has a token, but it is not for sale. Altman’s Worldcoin is not available for trading and has no market value.
This fact seemed to confuse some users looking to benefit from the success of venture-backed Worldcoin. Between 15 and May 17, the token’s price went from $0.0395 to $0.063.
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This was not the first time WDC’s price rose unexpectedly. The token surged 1,000% in March, potentially also due to a mistaken association with Altman’s project.
The unexpected price surge even prompted a response from WDC. The project posted a prominent disclaimer on its website to educate investors on the two tokens.
“Welcome, newcomers. We want to clarify something with you. We are not the ‘ORB RETINA SCANNING WORLDCOIN.’ They are imposters stealing our name,” the website writes. “We do not want you investing in the wrong coin,” the disclaimer continues.
On the Flipside
- Confusion over stock names and tickers costs millions of dollars to investors every year, according to a 2019 study. For instance, investors regularly confuse Ford Motor (F) with Forward Industries (FORD).
- WDC saw significant price surges even before Sam Altman announced his Worldcoin developments.
Why You Should Care
The confusion between WorldCoin and Sam Altman’s Worldcoin project highlights the risk of investing based on hype or misunderstanding.
Read more about Worldcoin’s launch that led to the confusion:
ChatGPT Going Crypto? OpenAI CEO to Deploy Worldcoin
Read more about the more famous, eye-scanning Worldcoin:
