Multicoin Capital invests 30 million in WLD, is this the beginning of a new upheaval in the AI sector?

A blockchain address marked as 0xf0007b56607bb268… transferred 30 million USDC stablecoins to the Worldcoin team wallet on December 23.

Hours later, this address received 60 million WLD tokens from the Worldcoin team wallet. On-chain analyst Yu Yan monitored this series of transactions and pointed out that this address is suspected to belong to the well-known crypto investment firm Multicoin Capital.

This typical OTC (over-the-counter) off-market transaction did not directly crash the public market but acted like a boulder thrown into a lake, causing ripples across the AI and crypto asset intersection.

01 Transaction Hotspot

On-chain data shows that this transaction can be clearly divided into two steps. First is the fund transfer: on December 23, Beijing time, a wallet associated with Multicoin Capital transferred 29,999,999 USDC to the Worldcoin team wallet.

Followed by the token settlement: around December 24, this address received 60,000,000 WLD tokens from the Worldcoin team wallet. Based on this, the unit price of this OTC trade is approximately $0.50 per WLD, with a total value close to $30 million.

The transaction itself was not directly bought or sold on the open market, but its signaling effect spread rapidly. According to data from Gate platform, as of December 26, WLD’s trading price hovered around $0.5, up 1.2% in the past 24 hours.

02 Market Chain Reaction

This large OTC transaction quickly triggered price fluctuations in the secondary market. After the information spread, WLD’s price rose from the December 24 closing price of $0.48891 to the $0.49 - $0.50 range, a 4% increase within 24 hours.

More notably, trading volume surged. Stimulated by the news, WLD’s total trading volume in 24 hours soared to $1.46 billion, hitting the highest level since 2025 and a new high since July 2024.

The derivatives market also reacted strongly. Data shows that the funding rates on major trading platforms turned negative, for example, Binance at -0.0028%, and Bybit even reached -0.0111%. Negative funding rates mean short positions pay longs, often seen as a short-term bullish signal.

03 Resonance in the AI Cryptocurrency Sector

This transaction not only affected WLD itself but also impacted the entire AI crypto sector. Currently, the total market cap of AI cryptocurrencies is about $25.3 billion, down slightly by 0.3% in the past 24 hours.

This volatility echoes the recent performance of AI stocks in the US stock market. In traditional finance, AI star stocks like Oracle have fallen nearly 50% from their September all-time highs, sparking widespread discussion on whether the AI bubble is near bursting.

Crypto market analysts believe that WLD’s transaction reflects ongoing institutional interest in AI infrastructure projects. This interest contrasts with concerns in the US stock market over AI capital expenditure.

According to a Goldman Sachs report, generative AI could bring a discounted capital income value of $5 trillion to $19 trillion to the US economy, and since the release of ChatGPT, AI-related stocks have increased their market value by over $19 trillion.

04 Macro Environment and Industry Challenges

The current macro environment adds more interpretive space to this transaction. The US experienced a 43-day government shutdown, disrupting key economic data releases, leaving markets to explore directions without clear guidance.

Meanwhile, the global AI industry faces doubts about whether high capital expenditure can translate into actual profits. In the crypto space, AI tokens cooled off in November, with some funds flowing into RWA (real-world assets) and privacy coins.

Worldcoin itself faces unique challenges. As a project aiming to create a global digital identity through iris scans, it has encountered privacy regulatory scrutiny in multiple regions. Its token distribution is also quite concentrated, with the top five addresses holding over 63% of the WLD supply.

05 Technical Analysis and Trading Outlook

From a technical perspective, WLD is at a critical juncture. The current price is around $0.49, slightly above the key support level of $0.47. Analysts are divided on the short-term trend; bulls believe that if this support holds, the price could rebound to $0.67 within two weeks.

However, bearish views point out that up to 79% of technical indicators still show bearish signals, and market sentiment indicators are in the “extreme fear” zone. The long-term moving average system remains bearish, with WLD trading below all major averages.

On-chain holdings data shows that, following Multicoin’s trade, other large addresses accumulated about 150.59 million WLD between December 22 and 25. This suggests institutional investors may be building positions collaboratively.

06 Institutional Positioning and Industry Significance

Multicoin Capital’s increased holdings bring its total WLD position to about 75 million, worth approximately $37.9 million, ranking among the top 25 WLD holders. At an entry cost of about $0.50, this position has already realized an unrealized gain of about $7.9 million, with a return exceeding 26%.

This transaction occurred during a relatively quiet period for AI crypto project funding activities. Data shows that the overall market cap of AI crypto has declined this year, but capital seems to be concentrating in leading infrastructure projects.

From a broader perspective, this transaction reflects ongoing crypto capital bets on the integration of AI and blockchain. Despite short-term impacts from traditional AI stock market corrections, the long-term development of decentralized AI, computing power markets, and data ownership narratives continues.

Future Outlook

WLD’s circulating supply is 2,581,691,863.65 tokens, with a total market cap of about $7.62 billion. Even after institutional inflows, WLD’s price remains over 91% below its all-time high of $11.968 set in March 2024.

The AI narrative in crypto is more closely linked to the US stock AI sector than ever before, with any movement in one quickly affecting the other. Multicoin Capital’s transaction may just be the beginning of new turbulence.