Multicoin Bets $30 Million on Worldcoin While Retail Walks Away

Multicoin Capital has reportedly purchased 60 million Worldcoin (WLD) in an over-the-counter transaction with the project’s team, betting on the biometric identity protocol.

The acquisition comes amid a period of declining investor engagement, with WLD’s price slipping 21% over the past month.

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Multicoin Capital Doubles Down on Worldcoin Despite Price Slide

Founded in 2017, Multicoin Capital is a thesis-driven firm specializing in crypto and blockchain projects. Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain identified a large transaction involving a wallet reportedly associated with Multicoin Capital (0xf0007b56607BB268efFe4126655f077F8cf42696).

According to on-chain data, the address transferred 30 million USDC to the Worldcoin team one day ago. Then, Multicoin received 60 million WLD tokens, suggesting an OTC deal directly with the project rather than an open-market purchase.

The timing of the transaction is notable, as on-chain and search data point to declining interest in Worldcoin. Dune Analytics showed that the number of new active wallet addresses has fallen sharply since September.

The slowdown in new participants suggests weakening retail demand, even as institutional investors continue to accumulate. Search interest has followed a similar trajectory.

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Google Trends data revealed that searches for “Worldcoin” dropped significantly after peaking at a score of 100 in September. That surge was largely driven by Upbit’s listing of WLD, which also pushed the token’s price up at the time. Since then, however, Worldcoin has erased those gains, with search interest falling to a score of 6 at press time.

Price action reflects this cooling momentum. According to BeInCrypto Markets data, WLD has lost more than 21% of its value over the past month.

At the time of writing, the token was trading at $0.49614, representing a 2.57% increase over the past 24 hours. The short-term rebound comes amid a broader market recovery, with the total crypto market capitalization rising by nearly 0.5%.

Beyond its price performance, the project is also under growing regulatory pressure. In late November, Thai authorities ordered World to suspend its iris-based enrollment activities in the country and erase biometric data gathered from more than 1 million individuals.

The order followed an October enforcement action, during which officials raided one of the project’s iris-scanning sites in Thailand.

These developments add to earlier challenges. In May, the project encountered regulatory setbacks in both Indonesia and Kenya.