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1 trillion won poured in a day… Story (IP) doubles in just three days—what’s behind the surge
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Summary
- IP token surged 100% over three days, with one-day trading value reaching about 977 billion won, as tailwinds for AI-themed coins and expectations for a mainnet update fueled the rally, the report said.
- It said the Story Foundation’s extension of the IP token buyback program and the expansion of purchases to $100 million are acting as positive catalysts supporting the price.
- It added that U.S. crypto asset manager Grayscale launching an IP token trust, along with naming Poseidon and Aria Protocol as candidates in its ‘investment product pipeline,’ is being cited as a factor stimulating institutional investor demand in the U.S.
IP coin’s one-day trading value on the 14th nears ‘1 trillion won’
Tailwinds from the ‘AI theme’ and impact of a ‘network upgrade’
A string of positives including token buybacks and U.S. institutional demand
Rumors also swirl of a partnership deal with Tesla
Story (IP), the native token of blockchain-based intellectual property (IP) infrastructure project Story Protocol, is soaring as tailwinds for AI-themed coins and expectations for a mainnet update converge.
As of the 14th (local time), IP was up 33.6% day on day to $4.02 on CoinMarketCap, while it was trading at 5,820 won on Upbit’s KRW market. It has posted gains of roughly 100% over the three days since the 12th. IP’s global trading value reached $662.19 million (about 977 billion won) on the day.
This follows a similar-scale rally earlier this year by AI-related tokens such as Render and Virtual in the crypto market, and is seen as speculative demand rotating into Story, an AI-related coin.
Story Protocol is a Layer 1 blockchain designed to handle everything from registering IP on-chain to licensing and revenue distribution. It has been cited as a candidate for core infrastructure in the AI era, as it can manage creative works and AI training data as smart-contract-based assets.
More recently, plans for mainnet-related updates and ecosystem expansion also lifted market expectations. Story is set to carry out an upgrade on the 14th to apply Ethereum Pectra upgrade proposals to the Story network. With deposits and withdrawals of IP tokens restricted at major exchanges starting that night, speculative demand aiming to capitalize on the event is also expected to have surged.
The extension of the previously announced IP token buyback program and the positive catalyst of U.S. institutional demand are also seen as key drivers of the price action.
The Story Foundation said late last year it would extend its IP token buyback (open-market purchases) program through Feb. 1, 2026, and expand the purchase size from $82 million to $100 million (about 147 billion won).
In addition, Grayscale, the largest U.S. digital asset (cryptocurrency) manager, which oversees about 50 trillion won in assets, launched an IP token trust product for institutional investors in August last year. Observers said this likely helped, as it makes IP more accessible to U.S. institutional investors than many other altcoins.
Grayscale also said on the 12th that it had designated Poseidon—Story’s subsidiary and an AI data-licensing project—and Aria Protocol (Ariaip), a Story-based copyright-related project, as candidates for its ‘investment product pipeline.’
The list is a document in which Grayscale screens and discloses digital assets it is considering for future launches of new institutional products or expansions of existing offerings.
Meanwhile, rumors circulated in some Story communities on X and Telegram that Story’s ‘Poseidon’ had signed a partnership agreement with Tesla, the world’s largest electric-vehicle company.
Regarding this, a Story official said, “It’s difficult to comment on cooperation with a specific company,” adding, “Story and Poseidon have focused on IT infrastructure in the AI era. We expect meaningful results related to this to emerge within the first half of this year.”
