Blockchain startup Story is emerging from stealth with its bespoke Layer 1 network built for IP management, which is expected to launch later this year, co-founder Jason Zhao told The Block in an interview.  

The project is backed by notable venture capitalists, including Paris Hilton’s 11:11 Media, Samsung Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, the latter of which led its initial $54 million Series A funding round. Founded in 2023, Zhao said Story has already amassed over 50 clients looking to build intellectual property-focused tools into their business, including a few notable NFT projects. 

“We want to do for IP what bitcoin did for money,” Zhao said. “We want to turn IP into these ‘programmable Legos’ that allow creators to bring their creative assets on-chain, creating a …