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WLD plunges 20% as Hayes dumps token a day after saying he would keep holding it
The BitMEX co-founder and Maelstrom CIO cited a falling chart of SpaceX stock, which does not begin trading until June 12, as Worldcoin slid about 10%.
Jun 6, 2026, 8:25 a.m. 2 min read
What to know:
- Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and head of family office Maelstrom, said he sold the firm’s entire Worldcoin stake on Friday, less than a day after publicly signaling he would keep holding the token.
- Hayes linked his decision to a sharp drop in pre-listing prices for SpaceX shares, which he had treated as connected to the AI trade that Worldcoin was meant to proxy.
- Worldcoin fell about 10 percent in the past 24 hours, part of a broader crypto market decline, with a notable leg down after Hayes announced his exit.
“Dumped $WLD. I’m out. See y’all at the clerb,” he wrote, alongside a chart of SpaceX stock sliding. WLD dropped 10% in the past 24 hours, with a chunk of the move coming after Hayes’ tweet.
This chart is going in the wrong direction. Dumped $WLD. I’m out. See y’all at the clerb. pic.twitter.com/TcfYzCmtSv
— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) June 6, 2026
A day earlier Hayes had said Maelstrom was keeping Worldcoin. The firm had just sold all of its Zcash, a privacy coin, blaming a flaw in its Orchard privacy pool that he said undercut the reason to own it, and Hayes said the firm would rebuy it higher if he turned out to be wrong. Worldcoin it would keep, he said then, while waiting for ‘Lord Elon’ – referring to Elon Musk – to lift the price.
