Worldcoin trades near 2026 highs, is a bigger breakout coming?

Worldcoin (WLD) is attempting a breakout after finding support from the AI narrative. WLD may break its trend of behaving like a forgotten token to reflect the value of OpenAI. 

Worldcoin (WLD) broke above $0.59 on Monday, gaining 15.4% in the past 24 hours. The asset rallied following the general recovery of the crypto market, but may be writing its own new narrative. 

As Cryptopolitan reported, OpenAI, founded by Sam Altman, recently filed to become one of the big IPOs in the summer of 2026. As with other crypto tokens going through irrational rallies, WLD is partially reflecting the AI narrative. 

Some of the support for WLD comes from Eightco Holdings (Nasdaq: ORBS), a major investor in OpenAI. The holding has acquired and controls 8.4% of the WLD supply, working similarly to a treasury company. 

Worldcoin gets a boost from increased volumes, open interest

Despite the general weakness of the altcoin market, WLD had its own set of factors to set it apart. After launching as a VC-backed, high FDV asset, WLD traded with relatively low volumes. In the past two months, WLD activity rose to a higher baseline level, with over $860M in daily trading volumes. 

WLD is up more than 48% in the past 90 days, lining up among the top 15 of the most active altcoins and tokens. Previously, WLD has also risen in response to Sam Altman’s future plans, suggesting real use cases for its biometric database. With the improvement in AI, proof of humanity may come to attention again, which was the original mission of Worldcoin.

The past few days saw WLD further accelerate its growth. Mindshare increased to 0.1%, rising by nearly 200% in the past day. WLD is now preparing for a monthly close above $0.60 to potentially break out of its long slide. 

If the WLD rally continues, it would indicate the crypto market still holds value, only limited to specific projects. WLD is in no way related to OpenAI’s IPO, but the general hype and attention may boost the asset’s performance. 

WLD open interest is also back to its higher range, rising to over 307M. The token has over 40% in short open interest, potentially leading to a short squeeze. 

The token trades with a higher market cap compared to its initial launch and a price record above $12. WLD will have to show it can overcome the dilution following a long series of unlocks. Another 1B WLD tokens will be released in 2027, as unlocks and new production accelerate.

WLD gets a boost from South Korean markets

WLD is also showing a niche trading profile, gaining liquidity from the South Korean crypto market. 

Up to 35% of WLD volumes are against the South Korean won, making the asset relatively independent from US and European market liquidity. WLD also became the top traded asset on Upbit as of June 15. Analysts have noted WLD is among the handful of coins that are highly dependent on Upbit trading for their breakouts.

The WLD rally follows a slump in the South Korean stock market, as investors abandoned stocks following the biggest drawdown for 2026. Even with lowered crypto sentiment, Upbit remains a key source of liquidity for older altcoins, potentially triggering a wider recovery on global derivative markets.