Worldcoin to cease paying Orb operators in USDC as early as November
Aside from ditching USDC for its native token, Worldcoin announced some changes to the terms of its WLD loans to market makers.
Worldcoin is set to begin paying its Orb Operators — those rewarded for scanning people's eyes — with its native Worldcoin (WLD) token, phasing out USD Coin (USDC) as early as next month.
According to an Oct. 22 announcement, Worldcoin says Orb Operators — who are “independent ecosystem participants” tasked with scanning people’s irises in exchange for WLD tokens — will cease to be paid in USDC as of November. The change will affect most jurisdictions.
Worldcoin said the move to pay orb operators entirely in WLD was part of a “transitional phase” following the official launch of the project on July 24. On Oct. 10, the Worldcoin Foundation kicked off a pilot program to grant select operators with payment in WLD tokens.
“In November 2023, the Worldcoin Foundation expects that the transition process will be completed such that all Operators will receive WLD going forward.”
In the blog post, Worldcoin noted that the Worldcoin tokens are currently not available to people or companies who are living in the United States as well as “certain other restricted territories.”
Data from Worldcoin’s official Dune Analytics dashboard shows that the supply of the WLD token has grown from approximately 100 million at the time of launch to around 134 million at the time of publication.
Of the roughly 134 million WLD tokens issued so far, 100 million were distributed as loans to market makers while the remaining 34 million were given out to Orb operators and new users in the form of “free user grants.”
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