Seoul & Palo Alto, South Korea & United States, September 10th, 2025 – With its September 23 debut fast approaching, Origin Summit reveals a powerful second wave of speakers at the forefront of culture, AI, blockchain, and capital. Are you ready to witness the convergence that will redefine the global economy?
The Unstoppable Convergence of AI and IP
Imagine a world where a K-pop star’s melody, a viral meme, a breakthrough biotech patent, and the data that trains a powerful artificial intelligence model all share a common language. They are all forms of intellectual property (IP), the silent, multi-trillion-dollar engine of global innovation and culture. Yet, for decades, this immense value has been trapped—illiquid, fragmented, and governed by analog systems in a digital world.
What if you could tokenize these assets, making them programmable, traceable, and instantly monetizable? This isn’t a futuristic concept; it’s the foundation of the next wave of the internet’s evolution. The Origin Summit, hosted by Story Protocol in collaboration with Blockworks and Korea Economic Daily, is where this future is being built. This premier event is poised to become the definitive institutional forum on programmable IP and real-world assets (RWA), and the recent announcement of its second wave of speakers solidifies its critical role in the blockchain and AI ecosystem.
What is the Origin Summit? Bridging Worlds in Seoul
The Origin Summit is not just another crypto conference. It is a meticulously curated gathering designed to bridge the historic divides between cultural creators, AI pioneers, blockchain engineers, and institutional capital. Hosted during the vibrant Korea Blockchain Week (KBW) 2025 in Seoul, its mission is to explore and define the infrastructure powering the programmable IP economy.
But why Seoul? The choice of location is a strategic masterstroke. South Korea is not just a participant in the digital revolution; it is a living laboratory for the future. It’s a nation where culture and technology fuse seamlessly, creating a unique petri dish for the trends discussed at the Summit.
A Cultural Juggernaut: South Korea’s cultural IP exports, including music, gaming, and film, reached a staggering $13.6 billion in 2024. From global phenoms like BTS and BLACKPINK to gaming giants like Lineage, the nation understands the creation and global scaling of valuable IP.
An AI-Powered Society: South Korea has the largest number of paid ChatGPT subscribers outside the U.S., with weekly usage exploding by 4.5x over the past year. This rapid adoption indicates a population ready for the next phase of AI integration.
A Crypto Trading Hub: Nearly 30% of the South Korean population actively invests in digital assets. Its exchanges capture almost 50% of global altcoin trading volume, creating a massive, engaged, and liquid market for new crypto innovations.
The Home of Physical AI: With the world’s highest robot density and industrial leaders like Samsung and Hyundai pushing the boundaries of embodied AI, South Korea is literally building the future of humanoid robotics.
This is the perfect backdrop for a conversation about turning IP into the most consequential real-world asset class of the AI era.
Deep Dive: The Second Wave of Visionary Speakers
The newly announced “Wave 2” speakers bring a depth of experience that spans the creation of global culture, the building of foundational crypto infrastructure, and the navigation of global macro markets. Their inclusion signals the Summit’s commitment to diverse, actionable perspectives.
Sooman Lee (Founder, SM Entertainment; CEO, A2O Entertainment): The very architect of modern K-pop. Lee is a legend in content creation, having launched icons like BoA, Girls’ Generation, and EXO. His new focus on AI-driven cultural innovation at A2O Entertainment offers a glimpse into how the next generation of idols and IP will be born at the intersection of culture and technology. His presence asks a critical question: How will AI transform the way we create and experience culture?
Arthur Hayes (Co-founder & former CEO, BitMEX): A crypto pioneer whose platform, BitMEX, helped usher in the era of crypto derivatives. Hayes is renowned for his sharp, often provocative, macro-economic analysis. His perspective is crucial for understanding how global liquidity, interest rates, and geopolitical shifts will impact the adoption of digital assets and tokenized real-world assets like IP. He connects the dots between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Justin Sun (Founder, TRON; Member, HTX Global Advisory Board): A perennial figure known for his bold moves and industry-shaping deals. As the founder of the TRON blockchain, one of the most globally scaled L1s, Sun brings a deep understanding of what it takes to build and scale blockchain infrastructure for mass adoption. His insights into global crypto markets, particularly in Asia, are invaluable.
This wave builds upon an already impressive “Wave 1” lineup that includes:
Kyoung In Jung (CEO, The Black Label) and Lee Sung-soo (CAO, SM Entertainment): Powerhouses behind the K-pop industry.
Ryan Seungkyu Lee (Co-founder, The Pinkfong Company): The mind behind the global sensation “Baby Shark.”
Amy Oldenburg (Head of Emerging Markets, Morgan Stanley) and Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary (MD, Grayscale): Representing the influx of institutional capital.
Sandeep Nailwal (Co-founder, Polygon) and Yat Siu (Chairman, Animoca Brands): Leading blockchain builders and investors.
The $80 Trillion Opportunity: Why Intellectual Property is the Ultimate Real-World Asset (RWA)
At the heart of the Origin Summit is a simple but staggering statistic: the global intellectual property economy is valued at over $80 trillion. Yet, it remains one of the most illiquid and inaccessible asset classes on earth. Why?
Traditional IP systems are slow, opaque, and fraught with legal complexity. An artist licensing their music for a video game, a biotech firm monetizing a patent, or an AI lab securing rights to training data each face a labyrinth of intermediaries and paperwork. This friction stifles innovation and locks away value.
Artificial intelligence is both exacerbating this problem and offering its solution. AI‘s biggest bottleneck is no longer compute power; it’s access to rights-cleared, high-quality, specialized data. Models cannot simply scrape the internet; they need verifiable, licensed information. This creates an unprecedented demand for programmable IP—IP where usage rights, provenance, and royalty structures are embedded directly into the asset itself, readable by both humans and machines.
This is where blockchain technology, specifically platforms like Story Protocol, comes in. Story provides the AI-native infrastructure that makes IP a programmable digital asset.
Tokenization: Converts IP into digital assets (like ERC-721 tokens for licenses and ERC-20 tokens for royalties) that can be easily traded, staked, or grouped into portfolios.
Programmable Licensing: Embeds machine-readable, legally enforceable license terms directly into the asset, enabling autonomous and instantaneous licensing agreements.
On-Chain Enforcement: Automates attribution and royalty payments across complex chains of derivative works, ensuring creators are fairly compensated in real-time.
By tokenizing IP, it becomes a liquid real-world asset (RWA). This unlocks a new sector—IPFi (IP Finance)—where intellectual property can be integrated into the existing onchain liquidity of DeFi, creating entirely new markets for investors and creators alike. Imagine a future where you can invest in a portfolio of top-tier music royalties or finance the development of an AI model in exchange for a share of its future licensing revenue. This is the future the Origin Summit is dedicated to building.
The Role of Story Protocol: Building the Infrastructure for the IP Economy
It’s impossible to discuss the Origin Summit without understanding its host, Story Protocol. Backed by $136 million from top-tier firms like a16z crypto, Polychain, and Samsung Ventures, Story launched its mainnet in February 2025 and has rapidly established itself as the leading blockchain for tokenized intellectual property.
Story is not just another general-purpose blockchain; it is a vertically integrated technical solution purpose-built for IP. It’s a layer 1 blockchain that treats IP as a first-class citizen, with technical improvements that allow it to handle the exponentially complex computations required for downstream royalty payments across vast graphs of derivative works.
Its core innovation is the combination of its Proof-of-Creativity Protocol and its Programmable IP License (PIL). The protocol onramps IP to the blockchain, while the PIL acts as a legal bridge, hooking the digital asset directly into the traditional legal system. This ensures that on-chain actions have off-chain legal enforceability.
The ecosystem is already thriving, with over 200 teams building applications on Story across verticals like AI, entertainment, and IPFi. Examples include:
Magma: A suite of browser-based design tools that allows its 2M+ users to register their work as an IP Asset with a few clicks, generating a blockchain record and setting legally binding licensing terms.
Mahojin: Building a decentralized version of Hugging Face where data owners can register their work as IP Assets for AI models to license at scale.
Beyond the Headlines: The Regulatory and Tax Landscape of Tokenized Assets
For institutional adoption to become a reality, clarity on regulation and taxation is paramount. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has provided guidance on crypto asset activities, clarifying how broker-dealers can handle digital asset securities and the requirements for transfer agents operating on distributed ledgers.
Furthermore, the IRS treats virtual currency as property for federal income tax purposes. This means transactions involving crypto, including receiving it as payment for services or exchanging it for other property, can trigger capital gains or losses. Understanding the tax implications of tokenizing and transacting IP is a critical piece of the puzzle for any serious investor or creator entering this space.
Event Logistics
Date: September 23, 2025
Location: Seoul, South Korea (during Korea Blockchain Week)
Format: Curated for institutional investors, IP holders, AI builders, and cultural leaders
Website:www.originsummit.xyz
Registration: Limited capacity. Interested parties can request access via the event website.
Produced by: Story Protocol, in collaboration with Blockworks and Korea Economic Daily
About Origin Summit
Origin Summit is the premier institutional event at the intersection of AI, blockchain, finance and intellectual property. Hosted by Story, in collaboration with Blockworks and Hankyung Media Group, the Summit convenes global leaders to define the infrastructure powering the programmable IP economy. Taking place during Korea Blockchain Week 2025 in Seoul, Origin Summit will explore how AI, crypto, and capital are converging to unlock the world’s most valuable untapped asset class.
About Story
Backed with $136 million from a16z, Polychain, and Samsung Ventures, Storylaunched its mainnet in February 2025 and has rapidly become the leading blockchain infrastructure for tokenized intellectual property. Story is a blockchain purpose-built to make intellectual property a programmable digital asset with embedded rights. It enables creators, developers, enterprises, and AI labs to turn media, data, and AI-generated content into programmable, legally enforceable digital assets, fueling use cases across AI, entertainment, robotics, and more. Designed for scale, Story bridges the gap between outdated legal frameworks and the realities of AI-era creation, making it possible to track provenance, automate licensing, and unlock new markets for ideas. As the foundation for $IP’s evolution into an internet-native asset class, Story powers a more open, equitable, and composable creative economy. Users can learn more at https://www.story.foundation.
About Blockworks
Blockworksis an information platform that sits at the center of the crypto industry. We transform raw, complex data and facts into actionable research, trusted news, alpha-driven insights, and world-class events. The result is transparency and confidence. They enable investors, operators, and institutions to see past the noise, make better decisions, and drive the industry forward.
Conclusion
The Origin Summit is more than an event; it’s a declaration. It declares that the era of illiquid, analog IP is over. It declares that artificial intelligence and blockchain technology are not threats to creators but the keys to unlocking unprecedented value for them. It declares that South Korea is the epicenter of this cultural and technological convergence.
The second wave of speakers—from Sooman Lee to Arthur Hayes—adds profound depth to this conversation, connecting the dots between macroeconomics, cultural creation, and technological infrastructure.
The $80 trillion intellectual property economy is waking up. Will you be a spectator, or will you help shape its future?
FAQs
Q1: What exactly is the Origin Summit?
A: The Origin Summit is a premier institutional event taking place on September 23, 2025, during Korea Blockchain Week in Seoul. Hosted by Story Protocol in collaboration with Blockworks and Korea Economic Daily, it focuses on the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain technology, institutional capital, and intellectual property (IP).
Q2: Who should attend the Origin Summit?
A: The event is curated for a global audience of institutional investors, asset managers, IP holders (entertainment, gaming, biotech), AI builders and researchers, crypto founders, DeFi participants, and cultural leaders interested in the future of programmable IP and real-world assets (RWA).
Q3: What is “tokenized IP”?
A: Tokenized IP refers to the process of representing ownership or usage rights to a piece of intellectual property (a song, patent, brand, dataset) as a digital asset or token on a blockchain. This makes the IP easily tradable, divisible, and programmable, transforming it from an illiquid asset into a liquid real-world asset (RWA).
Q4: How does AI factor into the tokenized IP economy?
A: Artificial intelligence is a major driver and consumer of the programmable IP economy. AI models require massive amounts of rights-cleared, high-quality data for training. Tokenized IP with embedded licenses allows AI labs to efficiently and legally license vast datasets. Conversely, AI-generated content can itself be registered and tokenized as IP on platforms like Story.
Q5: What is Story Protocol?
A: Story Protocol is a layer 1 blockchain purpose-built to make intellectual property a programmable digital asset. It provides the technical and legal infrastructure (through its Programmable IP License) to tokenize IP, automate licensing, and enforce royalties on-chain. It is the host and driving force behind the Origin Summit.
Q6: Why is the event being held in South Korea?
A: South Korea is a unique global hub for culture, technology, and crypto adoption. It is a world leader in cultural IP exports, AI adoption, and digital asset trading volume, making it the ideal location to discuss the fusion of these fields.
