Palo Alto-based blockchain startup Story Protocol has officially rebranded as DATA Foundation and launched Trace, an onchain AI training data registry with 1.5 billion user records via Kled, as announced on June 25, 2026. The rebranding has triggered a significant market response, with DATA token surging over 30% to $0.40 following the announcement, breaking out of a three-week sideways consolidation. The transition follows the startup's $140 million in cumulative venture funding led by Andreessen Horowitz's a16z crypto, with the foundation stating that demand for AI training data outpaced its earlier bets on entertainment and gaming. The leadership structure includes Andrea Muttoni as CEO, Avi Patel from Kled joining as chief data officer and adviser, and Seung-yoon Lee stepping back to an advisory role. As per multiple reports, the foundation is building toward solving one of the most pressing problems in AI right now: where to get training data that won't get you sued.
The DATA Foundation operates Trace, an onchain registry designed to verify the origins, licensing and consent history of datasets used to train artificial intelligence models, with every record tagged with ownership, licensing, and usage permissions. The startup's shift comes as AI developers and Big Tech face mounting copyright lawsuits over data used to train models and increasing pressure to prove proper consent. The network incorporates Poseidon, an AI data processing project that raised $15 million in July 2025 and scores and validates datasets before they enter the registry, functioning as a quality gate between raw data and AI labs that need to trust their purchases. According to recent reports, the onchain component is load-bearing, creating an immutable record of what data was licensed, when, for what purpose, and by whom. The company described AI training data as "the most valuable and least solved category of IP," arguing that major AI labs are facing a costly supply problem as easily scraped internet data becomes less useful.
The launch includes direct integration with Kled AI, an opt-in human data marketplace that registers 1.5 billion user-contributed records on the new network, spanning voice, video, and images. The organization is developing Trace, a public audit and search platform that creates unalterable cryptographic receipts for individual data contributions. Patel explained that "Trace publishes the audit record, not the data," with content hash, consent terms, licensing, payment proof and timestamps publicly available while the underlying data remains inside the marketplace. The onchain component is load-bearing, creating an immutable record of what data was licensed, when, for what purpose, and by whom. As per recent reports, Kled's 1.5 billion records is the number that most directly tests whether the combination of onchain registry and validation layer is real or aspirational. The platform allows AI firms to verify data sets while allowing contributors to set and enforce licensing terms.
Following the rebranding, DATA token experienced a 30% surge to $0.40, breaking out of a three-week sideways market consolidation, though it has since corrected amid profit-taking. The rebranding triggered a spike in daily trading volume by almost 3x, increasing by 294% to around $206 million, with the token achieving a high turnover ratio of 1.71, affirming intense trading activity and liquidity. Chain activity also grew by more than 4x to a monthly peak, with Daily Transactions rising from 30.83K to 130.58K as of press time. However, over 8 million IP tokens were bought on OKX's spot market on the news, but only slightly more than 3 million IP tokens are now held by traders, indicating around 5 million DATA tokens have been sold for profits. The Bull Bear Power has flipped red, suggesting buyer strength is getting exhausted, though if DATA stays above the $0.3260 zone and bounces up, it could signal the start of a bigger trend. For continued appreciation, the price needs to break above the lower high at the $0.45 zone.
The DATA Foundation announced that the migration of IP to DATA would happen on a 1:1 ratio, with the foundation stating that integrations and validators continue without interruption. The rebrand also brings a partnership with Kled, billed as the largest opt-in human data marketplace, with its founder Avi Patel joining as chief data officer. The foundation outlined new missions for the network upon transition into the AI economy, including building a trust layer for AI training and tracking over 1 billion data records. The pivot places Story alongside other crypto firms turning toward AI as investor interest in the sector grows, with companies like Immutable moving from gaming toward AI marketing platforms and Coinbase developing tools for consumer AI models. Whether major AI labs adopt the network will determine if the data pivot can outlast the decline that preceded it, with the foundation's anchor application Kled providing access to over 1.5 billion user records that directly tests whether the combination of onchain registry and validation layer is real or aspirational.
