Nasdaq-listed company IP Strategy strategically acquires Aria ecosystem tokens

IP Strategy, the first Nasdaq-listed company operating digital asset strategies centered on Story (IP), announced on the 19th that it has strategically purchased the native tokens ARIAIP and APL of Aria Protocol (hereinafter 'Aria'), a global IP-based real-world asset (RWA) project.

Through this purchase, IP Strategy secured Aria's governance token ARIAIP and APL, which reflects royalty revenues generated from music IP, and plans to expand its investment in and participation in high-quality IP RWA projects within the Story ecosystem, and strengthen collaboration and continued ecosystem participation with projects whose real-world utility and profitability have been verified.

By securing the two assets, IP Strategy has strengthened its financial strategy based on Story's digital asset IP tokens, which serve as the company's core reserves, while also creating a foundation to selectively invest in the most commercially advanced IP real-asset models, such as record royalty-based IP RWA. In particular, APL is expected to serve as a next-generation revenue engine together with IP Strategy's recently high-performing validator (Validator, verifier) business, driven by royalty revenues from the recordings held by Aria.

Aria, which is rapidly growing by implementing transparent ownership management, automatic licensing, and revenue distribution for music IP based on the Story blockchain, tokenizes recordings of major global artists such as BTS, Justin Bieber, BLACKPINK, Madonna, and Miley Cyrus, and is regarded as the largest-scale case of implementing royalties on-chain.

In addition, it attracted attention in the IP RWA market by successfully completing the recent $ARIAIP community sale. The oversubscription achieved through participation from investors across multiple countries is seen as an indicator proving real demand for tokenized IP assets, alongside Aria's rapidly expanding IP rights acquisition, licensing, and creator participation structure.

Lee Seung-yun, CEO of Story and chairman of the IP Strategy Advisory Board, said, "Aria is the most compelling case demonstrating what programmable IP can actually create in terms of value," and added, "IP Strategy's acquisition of ARIAIP and APL signifies that the 'programmable IP economy' based on the Story network has reached a new turning point in ecosystem maturity, commercial adoption, and institutional readiness."

David Kostiner, Aria co-founder, said, "IP Strategy joining as a holder of ARIAIP and APL is a signal proving Aria's long-term growth potential," and added, "IP Strategy's role in connecting regulated capital markets with on-chain IP assets will be an important turning point leading the expansion of the IP RWA market."