IP is gradually becoming the "new path" for development in many crypto projects. Therefore, Story Protocol has started to gain the attention of the community as it focuses on the IP sector. So, what is Story Protocol?

Intellectual Property (IP) products are creations of human intellect. These can include a wide range of creative forms and content, from art, literature, music, and films to artificial intelligence models, software, trademarks, and technical inventions.

More specifically, IP products can consist of:

• Literary and artistic works: Books, stories, poems, music, films, games, artwork, etc.
• Trademarks and brand identities: Logos, brand names, distinctive symbols, and other distinguishing marks.
• Patents: Technical inventions, formulas, and exclusive technological solutions.
• Designs: Product designs and industrial models.
• Software and source code: Applications, software programs, and their source code.
• AI models and data: Artificial intelligence models and the data used to train them, increasingly recognized as a unique form of IP in the digital era.

IP products are typically protected by intellectual property laws, which allow owners to control the use, distribution, and monetization of their creations.

Story Protocol is a layer 1 blockchain built on the Cosmos SDK and is compatible with EVM. With the growing trend of intellectual property (IP) prominence, Story Protocol aims to create a network that allows users to easily perform the following two tasks:

• Apply for IP licenses for intellectual products.
• Convert IP into assets on the blockchain while maintaining the legal aspects related to the IP.

Operating Model of Story Protocol

According to the project team, the Story Protocol network consists of three layers:

• The World’s IP Blockchain: This is the blockchain infrastructure layer built using the Cosmos SDK toolkit, which allows the Story Protocol network to have EVM compatibility and a BFT (Byzantine Fault Tolerance) consensus mechanism.
• Application Ecosystem: This layer provides developer tools to build various dApps on the Story Protocol network, including projects ranging from DEX (Decentralized Exchanges), lending/borrowing platforms, to AI, RWA (Real-World Assets), and DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations).
• Proof of Creativity and Programmable IP License.

Story Protocol has an infrastructure and structure similar to other layer 1 blockchains. However, its main difference lies in the second layer that supports IP-related applications in the crypto market, specifically the Proof of Creativity and Programmable IP License.

Proof of Creativity is a smart contract that allows users to bring their IP onto the Story Protocol network. These IPs can include real-world assets or NFTs that have been registered for copyright. Each IP uploaded to Story Protocol consists of two components:

• On-chain NFT representing the IP brought onto the network.
• A smart contract wallet linked to the IP, allowing users to interact with these IPs as NFT assets. This wallet mechanism is similar to Account Abstraction and ERC-6551.

After uploading to Story Protocol via Proof of Creativity, the IPs become on-chain assets on the network. Users can then utilize them for various DeFi activities, such as lending/borrowing or setting up royalties for others to use.

According to the project team, DeFi activities related to IP are executed through three main modules:

• Licensing Modules: This component helps maintain the legality of IPs on Story Protocol and supports users in applying for IP licenses for assets that don't yet have IP rights.
• Royalties Modules: This allows IP owners to apply "royalty fees" to their IPs, facilitating commercial and DeFi activities. Owners can freely set royalty fees, which are then stored on-chain and made transparent to all network users.
• Dispute Modules: This module aims to prevent plagiarism of IPs on Story Protocol.

Programmable IP License

• The Programmable IP License is an off-chain component in Story Protocol that provides legal documents for IPs on the network. Its purpose is to help users easily "onramp" (upload assets to the blockchain) and "offramp" (bring assets outside of the blockchain) their IPs on Story Protocol.

Overall, Story Protocol's structure is designed to ensure the legality of IP assets when brought onto the blockchain and helps turn IP into a new type of "asset" in the crypto market, featuring transparency and on-chain traceability.

The Team, Investors, and Partners of Story Protocol

Project Team

The team behind Story Protocol consists of experienced members in the crypto and financial markets. They include:

• Seung Yoon Lee: Co-Founder and CEO of Story Protocol. He was the founder of Radish Fiction in South Korea and later worked for the investment fund Hashed.
• Seung Soo Kim: Co-Founder and Chief of Staff (CoS) at Story Protocol. He was previously the CoS for Radish Fiction.
• Jason Zhao: Co-Founder of Story Protocol. Previously an engineer at Google DeepMind, specializing in AI development.
• Jason Levy: Co-Founder of Story Protocol. He has worked at major corporations like Apple and Amazon.

Investors and Partners

Story Protocol has completed three funding rounds, raising nearly $140 million USD in total. The details are as follows:

• May 17, 2023: Raised $29.3 million USD in a Seed round led by a16z. Other participants included Hashed, dao5, and Mirana Ventures.
• September 6, 2023: Raised $25 million USD in Series A, also led by a16z. Other investors included Hashed, Foresight Ventures, dao5, and Mirana Ventures.
• August 21, 2024: Raised $80 million USD in Series B, once again led by a16z, with participation from Polychain Capital and angel investor Cozomo de Medici.

Story Protocol has established partnerships with technology projects such as Ritual, HoloworldAI, and MyShell.