Story Protocol Announces Launch of Public Mainnet, Transforming IP Market

Story Protocol, a layer-1 blockchain designed to revolutionize the intellectual property (IP) sector, has officially launched its public mainnet after six months of successful testing. This marks a significant milestone for the platform, which is poised to create the world’s first global, programmable market for intellectual property. Story Protocol’s ambition is to transform the $61 trillion IP asset class by offering IP holders and AI-driven products a decentralized infrastructure to manage, trade, and monetize creative assets.

The mainnet launch follows the completion of the “Iliad” testnet phase, which started on August 27, 2024. Story Protocol’s mainnet provides a blockchain platform where IP owners can create licensing rules for their works and transact freely without relying on intermediaries. This innovation eliminates the need for traditional gatekeepers, empowering creators to have direct control over their assets.

One of the primary features of Story Protocol is its native token, IP, which will serve several functions within the ecosystem, including transactions, governance, and rewarding creators. Through the protocol, IP owners can register and tokenize their intellectual property, setting parameters for how their work can be used, modified, or monetized. Additionally, developers are encouraged to build on the Story Protocol blockchain, which could lead to the development of new AI tools, licensing platforms, and IP marketplaces.

Story Protocol has launched with an initial supply of 1 billion IP tokens, and a rewards portal has been set up for testnet participants to claim their tokens. Furthermore, Story Protocol has introduced a staking phase called “Singularity” that began on February 1, with rewards set to be distributed on March 2. Token staking will contribute to promoting the network’s security.

An important note for investors and early backers is that tokens allocated to them will be locked for one year. In a sign of growing support, major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase, OKX, KuCoin, Bybit, Bitget, and Bithumb, have already announced they will list the IP token.

The protocol has also secured substantial backing from high-profile investors, raising $140 million from firms such as Samsung Next and a16z. With funding and support, several projects focused on IP are already being developed on the Story Protocol blockchain. One of these, Aria, raised $7 million to acquire the rights to Justin Bieber’s song “Peaches”, intending to fractionalize the song’s ownership and distribute the proceeds to the tokenized owners of the IP asset.

By enabling creators to set licensing rules directly on the blockchain and providing new ways to manage and monetize creative works, Story Protocol is reshaping the future of the intellectual property market and driving greater efficiency in the global IP ecosystem.