Each major technological iteration has profoundly impacted the intellectual property (IP) field. The rapid development of the internet transformed traditional distribution models, offering creators more opportunities to showcase and trade their work on social media and streaming platforms, enabling rapid dissemination. In recent years, the rise of AI has made the creative process more efficient, significantly lowering the barriers to creation.

However, this fast-changing technological landscape has also posed numerous challenges for creators. Issues such as ownership and attribution, copyright protection, monetization potential, and value expansion have hindered creative enthusiasm and stunted the growth of the IP market.

The Story Protocol team has been contemplating how to break through the development deadlock of the IP ecosystem and embrace the openness and creativity that new technologies offer. They believe that building a new IP infrastructure layer that puts intellectual property, not just media files, on-chain and makes IP programmable and monetizable, can fundamentally reshape IP management. This article will provide a detailed analysis of Story Protocol from the perspectives of its core technical architecture, ecosystem development, team background, and funding.

What is Story Protocol?

In summary, Story Protocol = Blockchain + IP + AI.

Story Protocol’s team believes blockchain is the best strategy to address today’s IP challenges, mainly due to its global reach, transparency, and decentralization. In essence, blockchain offers provenance and authenticity without intermediaries. Its decentralized nature enables developers to build diverse applications on the protocol without interference.

Source: Story Protocol

The combination of blockchain and IP has already been under exploration for years. Early discussions focused on using blockchain to track and verify ownership of creative works—for example, applying blockchain to music, art, and literature to allow creators to register their products and ensure copyright protection. The rise of the NFT sector further fueled the development of the digital art market.

Story Protocol’s ambition goes beyond simply putting text, images, or music on-chain. It seeks to integrate all related rights connected to these media contents, along with rules governing their use—such as how users can obtain licenses, engage in derivative works, and expand the value of the content.

On Story Protocol, users can seamlessly consume, remix, and recreate content on-chain without worrying about copyright permissions or theft. By redefining IP on-chain and making it programmable, the platform provides creators with more diverse and robust economic incentives, fostering a positive cycle that unleashes global creativity.

（Source: Story Protocol）

At the same time, Story Protocol incorporates AI as part of its solution. The team is developing a system that allows creators to store their IP on the platform while automatically tracking how their original and derivative works are used. Any generated revenue will instantly flow back to the IP owner in specific proportions through modular operations. In this way, creators can capture more value from the explosive growth of AI-generated content.

Team Background and Funding

According to recent disclosures from team members, Story Protocol currently has about 25 members and plans to add 5 to 10 more this year. To maintain a lean structure, the team follows a hiring philosophy of recruiting only the “top 0.1% of talent.”

The core team includes co-founder and CEO Seung Yoon Lee and co-founders Jason Zhao and Jason Levy. Seung Yoon Lee has an impressive background: he was the CEO and founder of Radish, a serialized fiction platform, which he successfully sold to South Korean tech giant Kakao for $440 million in 2021. After the acquisition, Lee became Kakao’s Global Strategy Officer, overseeing global investments and mergers. He is also a venture partner at Hashed, Korea’s largest blockchain fund.

Founded in 2021, Story Protocol has raised $134 million through three funding rounds. Notably, a16z led all rounds of investment. The Series A raised $25 million, with participation from Hashed, Samsung Next, Foresight Ventures, dao5, Alliance DAO, Mirana Ventures, Endeavor Capital, and Insignia Ventures Partners. The Series B was completed in August 2023, raising $80 million, with contributions from Polychain, Cozomo de Medici, Adrian Cheng, and Scott Trowbridge.

Core Technical Architecture

The Story Network is a Layer 1 blockchain that combines the best features of EVM and the Cosmos SDK. It is fully compatible with EVM and has undergone deep execution-layer optimizations to support graph-based data structures, designed specifically to handle complex structures like IP quickly and cost-effectively.

To enable the programmability and monetization of IP, Story Protocol has built a network infrastructure layer consisting of an open IP repository and a suite of modules.

Source: Story Protocol

The IP Repository records the entire lifecycle of creative intellectual property—whether text, images, or audio—from inception to infinite derivative works, similar to how Git tracks branches and code versions. It also provides on-chain standards for scalable and composable IP. Just as protocols like HTTP, HTML, and CSS have accelerated the internet’s adoption by enabling structured information sharing, all IP registered on Story Protocol must follow consistent, networked standards. For example, using the ERC-6551 standard, any existing or new NFT can be linked with platform accounts to enable seamless access across the protocol. This standardization allows any application to easily read from and write to programmable IP.

Once IP is registered with Story Protocol, its modules unlock various functionalities, such as licensing, derivative work revenue streams, and global capital access. For example, the protocol’s licensing module enables programmable NFTs to function with the same flexibility and expressiveness as code. Creators can set clear, transparent terms for derivative works, including royalty structures and advance payments, facilitating seamless content expansion without time-consuming legal negotiations and human mediation.

Moreover, Story Protocol’s vast IP repository allows developers to build diverse applications on top of the programmable IP layer. These applications let users create and reference unique narrative elements directly within the protocol, enabling free movement and interaction across ecosystems. These elements become composable assets that transcend the boundaries of individual applications, enhancing cross-platform collaboration.

By making IP programmable, Story Protocol enriches user experiences, increases IP readability and liquidity, and amplifies the value of all IPs within the ecosystem.

Once IP becomes a liquid asset, Story Protocol can integrate it with the broader DeFi ecosystem. It introduces a new protocol called IPFi, allowing IP to be used as collateral in DeFi protocols or tokenized and securitized intellectual property. This opens unprecedented value growth opportunities for creators and their communities.

Ecosystem Development and Outlook

Building on its multifunctional framework, Story Protocol aims to combine the off-chain IP world with the programmability of blockchain assets, disrupting traditional content economies. At the same time, it focuses on nurturing crypto-native and Story Protocol-native IP, fostering a community-driven, open-source on-chain IP ecosystem.

To realize this vision, the team continues to enhance its tech stack, developer tools, and product development while encouraging developers to build applications within the ecosystem—ranging from games, DeFi solutions, and social media to DAOs. Although the mainnet has yet to launch, Story Protocol is leveraging its testnet to strengthen collaborations, conduct extensive audits, and create tools like a block explorer and NFT marketplace to improve the user experience. Currently, the protocol has around 280,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter) and a similar number of members in its Discord community.

Source: Story Protocol

Story Protocol emphasizes building a developer community. In addition to providing tools such as documentation and SDKs, it has launched a Builder Program to support, guide, and accelerate promising entrepreneurs and innovative projects built on Story Protocol. Top-performing projects receive comprehensive support, including funding, technical assistance, media exposure, and KOL partnerships.

Story Protocol is also actively expanding its influence beyond the crypto space. It boasts a strong advisory board from Hollywood and is engaging with prominent creators in the entertainment industry. It has partnered with leading NFT projects in the crypto space, further extending its reach.

Conclusion

Story Protocol is forging a new path in the multi-trillion-dollar intellectual property market by putting IP on-chain and making it programmable. Although still in the testing phase, its robust infrastructure and supporting tools open vast new possibilities for creators and serve as a crucial bridge between Web2 and Web3. The programmable IP paradigm promoted by Story Protocol may unlock new growth opportunities for the crypto industry, and we eagerly anticipate its future development.