Grayscale Bets on Eyeball Money: Files for $WLD ETF Despite Token Sitting 97% Below Peak 👁️

Grayscale filed an S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on July 20 for a spot Worldcoin exchange-traded fund, according to an SEC filing and Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart. The asset manager formed the trust on July 10 and filed 10 days later. The proposed fund would list on the Nasdaq under the ticker GWLD and operate under generic listing standards, meaning it could launch once the WLD token meets the applicable eligibility requirements. Grayscale also plans to offer in-kind creations and redemptions, has named BitGo as the Trust's custodian, and tapped BNY Mellon to administer the fund's books. The fee and authorized participants were not disclosed in the filing.

The Worldcoin project, developed by Tools for Humanity, verifies users by scanning their irises with a device called the Orb. Grayscale's own S-1 acknowledges significant regulatory friction, noting that authorities in Spain, Portugal, Germany, Hong Kong, Brazil, Kenya, and Indonesia took action against the project between 2024 and 2025. The filing also flags concentration risk: the 100 largest wallets hold approximately 90% of circulating WLD, and team and investor token allocations continue unlocking until around July 2028.

WLD traded near $0.375, up roughly 3.3% to 4% on the day according to the sources, though it remains about 97% below its March 2024 peak of $11.74. A June treasury purchase briefly lifted the token, while layoffs at Tools for Humanity weighed on sentiment.

The GWLD fund cannot begin trading until the SEC approves the registration statement and Nasdaq clears the listing. Grayscale previously converted its Bitcoin Trust into a spot ETF in January 2024 after prevailing in court against the SEC, and launched spot Solana and Dogecoin funds in late 2025.