Story is a decentralized peer-to-peer intellectual property (IP) network that creates a programmable market for knowledge and creativity. The platform enables the registration, monetization, and utilization of intellectual assets on a blockchain-based infrastructure, ensuring transparency and control over asset usage. Story functions as a universal repository of intellectual property, where any asset can be registered with customizable parameters for use and monetization.

The system is built on a multi-core blockchain, with a dedicated IP Core designed for efficient operations related to intellectual property, including rights tracking, licensing, and monetization. Story employs a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism and features the Proof of Creativity (PoC) protocol, which validates asset originality and facilitates its commercialization.

Story removes traditional intermediaries and allows creators to directly negotiate their intellectual property rights. The platform enables various applications, including:

• Intellectual Property Registration and Licensing: Creators can register intellectual assets on-chain and define programmable licensing and royalty terms.
• Creative Asset Monetization: Intellectual property assets can generate revenue when used by third parties, including businesses and AI models.
• Cross-Chain Interoperability: Story enables IP assets to be utilized across multiple blockchain networks, expanding their reach and liquidity.
• AI-Agent Transactions: The platform facilitates AI agents acquiring, utilizing, and monetizing intellectual assets autonomously, ensuring proper attribution and compensation for original creators.

The native token of the Story network, IP, coordinates all transactions and value flows within the system. It serves several key functions:

• Medium of Exchange: IP is used for transaction fees, licensing payments, and asset monetization.
• Network Security: As Story operates on a PoS consensus model, validators stake IP tokens to participate in blockchain consensus and maintain network integrity.
• Royalty Distribution: Creators and asset holders can establish automated royalty structures, ensuring compensation throughout the intellectual property chain.
• AI Interactions: AI agents can use IP to acquire intellectual property rights, share revenue, and facilitate programmable transactions.
• Decentralized Governance: The Story Foundation plays a key role in supporting the Story DAO, ensuring alignment with IP tokenholders and the broader ecosystem. The Foundation provides operational support, executes governance decisions made by tokenholders, and oversees the strategic development of the ecosystem. This framework empowers decentralized governance while maintaining efficiency and stability within the Story network.

Story was developed by the Story Foundation, with early support from investors such as a16z crypto. The protocol’s design was influenced by contributions from experts, including Eddy Lazzarin and Scott Kominers. The development team has published documents detailing the system’s architecture and functionalities, such as the Proof of Creativity (PoC) protocol and the Agent Transaction Control Protocol (Agent TCP/IP).

Founders:

• Seung Yoon “SY” Lee – CEO & Co-founder SY Lee is the CEO and Co-founder of Story. Before founding the company, he was the Global Strategy Officer at Kakao Entertainment, a major Korean entertainment company focused on original content and IPs. In 2021, SY sold Radish, his first venture—a mobile serialized fiction app with millions of downloads—to Kakao Entertainment for $440 million. He is also a venture partner at Hashed, an Asia 21 Young Leader at the Asia Society, and a David Rockefeller Fellow at the Trilateral Commission. SY was part of the inaugural Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia in 2016 and was later named one of its All Star alumni. While studying at Oxford University, he was elected as the first Asian President of the Oxford Union, the world’s most famous debating society.

• Jason Zhao – Head of Protocol & Co-founder Jason Zhao is the Head of Protocol and Co-founder of Story. Previously, he was a Product Manager at DeepMind, where he worked on deploying Google’s advanced AI models across industrial and enterprise applications. Jason is also an angel investor in frontier technology startups. He served as the founding Editor-in-Chief of Stanford Rewired, a magazine focused on the intersection of storytelling and technology. As a Design Fellow at IDEO, he created and taught a course at Stanford’s d.school. Jason holds both a Bachelor’s in Philosophy and a Master’s in Computer Science from Stanford University.