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Story Protocol and Heritage Distilling Partner in Largest Nasdaq IP Token Adoption
Story Protocol – Heritage Distilling Holding Company is making waves as the first Nasdaq-listed company to hold Story Protocol’s IP tokens as a primary reserve asset. Announced on August 11, this groundbreaking deal involves a $220 million private placement, blending both cash and token contributions backed by Story Foundation and prominent crypto investors.
Innovative Reserve Strategy
The private placement allocates $82 million for Heritage to purchase IP tokens directly from Story Foundation at $3.40 per token. Post-closing, Heritage will hold approximately 52.5 million IP tokens, valued around $361 million based on the market price of $6.8785 on August 10. Additionally, the company plans to raise $100 million via common stock and warrants, alongside token contributions from strategic partners.
Supporting Market Stability
A key feature of this arrangement is that Story Foundation will reinvest all net cash proceeds from Heritage’s sale to repurchase IP tokens on the open market within 90 days. This strategy is aimed at aligning incentives and maintaining market stability. Leading firms like Cantor Fitzgerald and Roth Capital Partners are joint placement agents, while Open World provides blockchain advisory services.
Tokenized IP Enters Mainstream Finance
Story Protocol’s IP token is the native asset of an AI-native blockchain platform that streamlines intellectual property registration, licensing, and monetization on-chain. Its applications, such as Aria and Ablo, have already facilitated tokenization for global brands like Adidas, BTS, and Justin Bieber. The platform supports staking, validation, and transactional uses for IP.
Market Reaction and Outlook
Despite the historic deal, IP token prices dipped by 12% in the past 24 hours, trading at $6.09, though still showing a robust 36% gain over the last month. The token’s market cap stands at approximately $1.8 billion, trailing its all-time high by about 16% since February.
Heritage Distilling’s bold adoption of digital assets as yield-bearing reserves highlights a growing corporate trend, signaling increased confidence in blockchain-based intellectual property tokens as part of mainstream finance.
