Story "Commences Token Buyback Worth ₩113 Billion"

Part of the Plan to Establish a Story Reserve Fund Worth ₩500 Billion

"Large-Scale Additional Fundraising with Global Financial Institutions Also Under Discussion"

The Story Foundation, which operates the intellectual property (IP) blockchain platform 'Story (STORY, IP)', announced on the 25th that it has initiated a token buyback valued at ₩113 billion.

This buyback program was formalized when the Nasdaq-listed American craft distillery company Heritage Distilling Holding Company completed a private investment in public equity (PIPE) round on the 15th (local time). From this date, the Story Foundation will buy up IP tokens worth $82 million (approximately ₩113 billion) in the market over a period of 90 days. Additional investments worth several hundreds of billions of won from global institutions are also under discussion.

Previously, Heritage disclosed a plan to establish a Story reserve fund in the amount of $360 million (about ₩500 billion). This strategic initiative includes major investors such as the world's largest venture capital firm a16z, as well as Polychain Capital, Arrington Capital, Amber Group, and Hashed.

Notably, it has drawn attention that Cantor Fitzgerald, an investment bank (IB) whose chairman was Brandon Lutnick, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, participated as the lead underwriter for the deal. Through this, Heritage became the first Nasdaq-listed company to designate IP, the Story token, as a principal reserve asset.

Story's potential was recognized early by institutional investors. Founded by Seungyoon Lee in 2022, Story secured three consecutive lead investments totaling $140 million (about ₩195.9 billion) from a16z, receiving a company valuation of approximately ₩3 trillion and attracting significant attention from the beginning.

It also became the first product in Korean financial market history to be listed among offerings for U.S. institutional investors. Grayscale, the largest crypto asset management firm in the United States managing about ₩50 trillion in crypto asset products, launched an investment trust product based on Story (IP) on the 31st of last month. Industry analysts note that "Story was selected by institutions due to its overwhelmingly large number of real-world use cases and a clear vision that distinguishes it from other crypto assets."

Building on these achievements, news has emerged that the Story Foundation is pursuing large-scale additional investments from institutional investors. According to the financial sector, multiple sources reported, "As part of the reserve fund formation plan, the Story Foundation is conducting negotiations for additional fundraising worth several hundreds of billions of won and has been confirmed to have recently contacted a number of large institutional investors."

Doohyun Hwang, BloomingBit journalist cow5361@bloomingbit.io