project: Story co-founder defends token unlock delay, says project needs ‘more time’

In an interview with CoinDesk, S.Y. Lee pointed to Worldcoin’s extended lockups as precedent for longer runways. What to know : Story Protocol has delayed its first major IP token unlock by six months to August 2026, keeping team and investor tokens locked while it seeks to build more usage. Co-founder SY Lee argued that near-zero on-chain revenue is a misleading metric because Story’s business model centers on off-chain licensing of human-generated datasets for AI training rather than gas fees. The project is pivoting from tokenized media toward "unscrapable" human-contributed data and enterprise licensing deals, slowing visible on-chain income but aiming to signal long-term commitment and reduce token supply overhang.