Why is Story favored by numerous investment institutions, and can it solve the industry problems of IP?
Written by: Blockchain Knight
The box office of the movie "Ne Zha" has surpassed 10 billion, and the "Ne Zha" IP has become a sensation. However, how to effectively leverage this wave of popularity and maximize the commercial value of the IP has become another challenge. The topic of blockchain empowering intellectual property has been discussed for years, but how to solve this tricky problem has become a pursuit for many entrepreneurs.
As a disruptor in this field, Story Protocol, which aims to revolutionize the trillion-dollar intellectual property (IP) development, has garnered significant attention. Currently, it has raised over $130 million, with three consecutive rounds of financing led by the renowned investment firm a16z, and its current valuation has reached $2.25 billion, with over 100 ecological cooperation projects. So, what is the charm of Story Protocol, which has already launched on many leading exchanges? Why has it attracted numerous investment institutions, and can it solve the industry problems of IP? Below, we provide an overview.
## 1. What is Story Protocol?
Story Protocol is a Layer 1 blockchain specifically designed for intellectual property (IP). Story Protocol provides a transparent and programmable global IP repository, allowing creators to register their intellectual property on the blockchain and define its usage rules.
Core features include:
IP Registration: Supports the registration of various forms of IP, including images, music, and AI training data;
Programmable Usage Terms: Creators can set the conditions for IP usage, such as revenue sharing ratios or restrictions on derivative works;
On-chain and Off-chain Connection: Achieves the mapping of intellectual property in both the blockchain and real legal systems through on-chain protocols and off-chain legal contracts (programmable IP licenses).
## 2. What problems does Story Protocol solve?
It primarily addresses the following pain points in traditional intellectual property management:
Creator Rights Protection: Ensures that creators' original works are accurately marked, prevents abuse or infringement, automatically tracks derivative works, and allows creators to share in commercial profits.
Fair Revenue Distribution: Implements a transparent revenue distribution mechanism through modular tools (such as licensing modules and royalty modules), enabling creators to receive fair returns while promoting open sharing.
Reducing IP Management Complexity: Utilizes blockchain technology to simplify IP management processes, lower trust costs, and automatically execute usage terms through on-chain smart contracts, reducing manual intervention.
Promoting Collaboration and Innovation: Provides an open ecosystem that allows creators to freely create, share, and generate derivative content under clear rules.
## 3. What is the background of the Story Protocol team?
Co-founder and CEO: S.Y. Lee (Seung Yoon Lee)
Formerly the founder and CEO of the content platform Radish, which was acquired by South Korean tech giant Kakao for $440 million in 2021. During his tenure as Kakao's Global Strategy Officer, he led global investment and acquisition activities, including the acquisition of Wuxiaworld, Asia's largest English fantasy novel platform. He has also served as a venture partner at Hashed, a leading blockchain fund in South Korea, investing in Web3 projects.
Co-founder: Jason Levy
Graduated from the University of Southern California and worked in the finance department at Apple for five years. He later pursued an MBA at Stanford University and worked at Episode, gaining extensive experience in technology and product development.
Co-founder: Jason Zhao
Holds degrees in Philosophy and Computer Science from Stanford University and served as a product manager for Google's DeepMind project, possessing a strong interdisciplinary and AI background.
Marketing Director: Emma Joelle Johnson
Graduated from King's College London. Formerly the marketing director of the NFT art platform SuperRare, specializing in community building and brand promotion.
## 4. Story Protocol Financing Situation
On May 17, 2023, raised $29.3 million, with investors including a16z, Hashed, dao5, Samsung Next, Foresight Ventures, Mirana Ventures, Berggruen Holdings, and SLVC.
On September 6, 2023, raised $25 million in Series A funding, with investors including a16z, Hashed, Samsung Next, Foresight Ventures, dao5, Alliance DAO, Mirana Ventures, Endeavor Capital, Insignia Ventures Partners, 11:11Media, Roham Gharegozlou, Balaji Srinivasan, Charlie Songhurst, David Lee, and Nicolas Berggruen.
On August 21, 2024, raised $80 million in Series B funding, with a valuation of $2.25 billion, with investors including a16z, Polychain, Cozomo de Medici, Adrian Cheng, and Scott Trowbridge.
## 5. Story Protocol Token
The total supply of $IP is 1 billion tokens, with an initial unlock of 25%, of which 58.4% will be allocated to the community, including the ecosystem and community, foundation, and initial incentives.
Specific allocation plan:
Ecosystem and Community: 38.4%
Initial Incentives: 10%
Foundation: 10%
Early Investors: 21.6%
Early Contributors: 20%
Unlocking schedule:
Singularity Period: Users can stake or delegate tokens but do not earn rewards (within 42 days after the mainnet launch, before March 2).
Big Bang Event: Scheduled for after March 2, when all participants will simultaneously start receiving staking rewards.
Lock-up: A portion of $IP is locked, with an initial unlock supply of 25%.
Token utility:
Staking: Validators stake $IP to participate in the consensus mechanism, with staking rewards distributed after the "Big Bang" event.
Governance: Token holders have governance rights.
Transaction Fees: $IP serves as the fuel token for all on-chain interactions.
Value capture:
Buyback mechanism (token burn).
Other mechanisms:
Anti-sybil measures: Aimed at preventing fake accounts or bot armies from participating to gain rewards or manipulate the system.
Incentive programs: Such as the Odyssey badge program.
## 6. Story Protocol Ecosystem Development
Cooperation situation: Over 100 partners are developing applications on its platform, including fashion design from Ablo, Japanese manga from Sekai, and digital art collaboration from Magma.
User situation: The platform has witnessed significant user engagement, with over 20 million addressable IP registrations and activities such as the Odyssey badge program, which involves nearly 175,000 wallets holding at least one badge. The Twitter following is nearly 700,000, with over 100,000 Discord users and over 320,000 TG users.
Ecosystem situation: Testnet and Mainnet: With the activities of the Odyssey testnet, it is now transitioning to the Aeneid testnet, and Story Protocol is preparing for its public mainnet launch, which is expected to bring further growth and stability to its ecosystem.
## 7. Conclusion
Overall, Story Protocol presents an innovative narrative. As a pioneering on-chain programmable IP protocol, it addresses the pain points of rights confirmation, collaboration, and revenue distribution through smart contracts, targeting a trillion-dollar IP market. The core team members are all well-known industry professionals, and the founders have investment backgrounds, with technical expertise including members from DeepMind, indicating involvement in AI as well. The financing background is solid, having received three rounds of lead investment from a16z, along with support from top South Korean investors like Hashed and Samsung Next. The ecosystem is beginning to take shape, having signed 100 projects and registered over 20 million IPs. The Agent TCP/IP experimental framework has been launched, which will support AI agents in trading intellectual property, promising a bright future.
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