Grayscale files for Worldcoin ETF with US regulator
Grayscale has applied to launch the first U.S. exchange-traded fund tied to Worldcoin, testing whether regulatory appetite for spot crypto products extends beyond major market-cap assets.
Grayscale filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a Worldcoin ETF, aiming to list the fund on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The product would provide U.S. investors with direct exposure to WLD, the native token of the World Network, through a regulated exchange-traded vehicle. Bank of New York Mellon would serve as transfer agent and BitGo Bank & Trust as custodian.
The filing represents a notable bet on a mid-cap digital asset. WLD currently holds a $1.3 billion market capitalization, ranking as the 57th largest cryptocurrency by market value. Worldcoin, recently rebranded as World, was co-founded by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman. The company operates a decentralized digital passport system, utilizing a spherical hardware device to scan users' eyes and verify human identity on the blockchain.
As a passive fund, the Grayscale Worldcoin ETF is designed to track the value of WLD held by the trust, minus the trust's expenses and other liabilities, as determined by a reference index price. "As a passive investment vehicle, the Trust’s investment objective is for the value of the Shares (based on WLD per Share) to reflect the value of WLD held by the Trust, determined by reference to the Index Price, less the Trust’s expenses and other liabilities," Grayscale said in the filing.
This structure mirrors the framework Grayscale has deployed across its existing crypto product suite. The asset manager successfully converted its flagship bitcoin trust into a spot ETF after prevailing in a landmark legal challenge against the SEC. It has since launched an Ethereum ETF and filed registration statements for funds tied to Solana, Chainlink and Dogecoin.
The Worldcoin filing extends that product expansion strategy into the identity and infrastructure layer of the crypto market. By targeting a token outside the top tier by market cap, Grayscale is testing whether regulatory appetite for spot crypto funds extends well beyond the industry's largest base-layer assets. A regulatory approval would also represent a significant institutional validation for World's biometric-centric network.
