TechFlow News, February 9: According to CoinDesk, blockchain intellectual property protocol Story Protocol has delayed its first major token unlock by six months to August 2026. Co-founder SY Lee responded to the decision in an interview, stating the project needs “more time” to build use cases.
Lee said near-zero on-chain revenue is a “misleading metric,” as Story’s business model focuses on off-chain licensing of AI training datasets—not gas fees. He drew a parallel to Worldcoin’s 2024 decision to extend investor and team lock-up periods, calling it a signal of long-term commitment. Story Protocol is shifting from general intellectual property registration toward “uncrawlable” human-contributed data and enterprise licensing agreements—specifically focusing on recording ownership terms and usage rights for datasets and models used to train AI systems. This pivot slows visible on-chain revenue but aims to alleviate excessive token supply pressure.
