Story Protocol Co-founder Steps Down After Token Launch and Sparks Controversy

Hi! In today’s edition:

• 🧳 Story Protocol’s co-founder exit sparks controversy

• 🔒 Monero attacker wants to break Dogecoin

• ⏱️ ETH wallet wakes up with $1.5M after 10 years

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Story Protocol Co-founder Exits Project Six Months After Token Launch

Story Protocol’s co-founder Jason Zhao announced he would step down from his full-time role and move into a “strategic advisor” position, citing plans to focus on a new AI venture called Poseidon.

Zhao’s exit, which comes six months after the mainnet launch of the protocol’s native token IP, drew backlash from the crypto community. 

“Another L1 founder exit after producing absolutely nothing and making a lot of money in the process. The industry needs to stop supporting this crap,” said EthHub co-founder Anthony Sassano on X. 

“It’s so disheartening that even the “top VCs” just seem stuck on this loop of rewarding flash over substance,” wrote Adam Cochran, partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, on X. “How the hell do we advance as an industry, if you throw money at smoke, mirrors and grift?”

Story Protocol has raised around $143 million, with a valuation of around $2.25 billion as of its latest funding round led by a16z.

Despite raising significant capital, the protocol has made just $26,652 in lifetime chain fees, earning just $23 in daily fees on Aug. 17.

Story’s core contributors received 20% of IP’s 1 billion token supply – none of which was unlocked at the token generation event, but followed a linear vesting schedule over 36 months after a six-month cliff.

Last week, a Nasdaq-listed company called Heritage Distilling announced $220 million in PIPE financing to establish a treasury strategy focused on IP. The firm said it plans to use $82 million to buy IP on the open market within the first 90 days.

Monero’s 51% Attacker Targets Dogecoin Next

After a 51% attack on the Monero network last week, the Qubic community has voted to target Dogecoin as a potential candidate for a similar test.

A Discord screenshot posted by Qubic founder Sergey Ivancheglo showed at least 300 members voted for Dogecoin, with only a handful of votes cast for other contenders Kaspa and Zcash.

Dogecoin’s hashrate currently sits at around 2.23 petahashes per second (PH/s), reflecting the active mining power distributed across the Dogecoin network. 

For context, that is far lower than Bitcoin’s 964 exahashes per second (EH/s), which is what makes networks like Dogecoin more susceptible to 51% attacks.

Since 2014, Dogecoin has been in a merged mining arrangement with Litecoin — a situation where both are mined simultaneously with the same hash power, without loss of performance on either network.

“Litecoiners support Dogecoin. Always have, always will,” Litecoin said in an X post on Sunday.

Ethereum ICO Wallet Moves $1.5 Million After 10 Years

An early Ethereum investor moved a stash of 334.7 ETH worth nearly $1.5 million on Aug. 16, 2025, after keeping the wallet dormant for more than a decade since the Ethereum ICO in 2014.

“He invested only $104 in the ICO and received 334.7 ETH – now worth $1.48M, a 14,269x return!” noted onchain wallet tracking firm Lookonchain, after flagging the transaction.

Blockchain data shows that the wallet first sent a small test transaction of 0.1 ETH before transferring the entire balance to a fresh wallet with no prior activity.

The transaction comes amid heightened institutional interest in ether, with U.S.-based spot ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs) seeing record $2.9 billion in inflows last week.

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• 💥 Digital Currency Group sued its bankrupt subsidiary Genesis over a $1.1B 2022 promissory note tied to the 3AC collapse, claiming Genesis owes it $105M plus interest despite having already recovered more than the original shortfall.

• 📊 Gemini, founded by the Winklevoss twins, filed an S-1 with the SEC to list on Nasdaq under ticker GEMI, joining a wave of hot crypto IPOs after Circle and Bullish shares soared post-listing.

• 🗳️ Solana’s community began governance on the Alpenglow upgrade, a proposal aiming to slash block finality from 12.8 seconds to about 150 milliseconds, with voting set between epochs 840 and 842.

• 🇺🇸 Trump-backed miner American Bitcoin, co-founded by Eric Trump, began scouting listed firms in Japan and Hong Kong to build a treasury-style Bitcoin hoard, ahead of its September Nasdaq debut through a Gryphon merger.

• 🔓 The Federal Reserve scrapped its special program overseeing banks’ crypto activity, saying risks are now well understood and such services like custody or stablecoin issuance will be monitored under regular bank supervision.

• 🎮 Ronin, the sidechain built for Axie Infinity, announced plans to transition into a full Ethereum layer 2 by 2026, pitching itself as a “gamification engine” for crypto as Ethereum regains Wall Street’s spotlight.

• 💴 Japan’s financial regulator is set to greenlight yen-pegged stablecoins this fall, with fintech JPYC preparing to register as a money transfer service to issue the country’s first approved fiat-backed digital token.

• 📱 Thailand launched a Tourist Wallet allowing foreigners to make baht QR payments via cash, cards, or transfers, but its crypto conversion option stayed locked in a regulatory sandbox until officials finish reviewing security and compliance.

• 💵 Circle unveiled plans to sell 10 million Class A shares at $130 each—more than quadruple its June IPO price of $31—raising funds for corporate use while early investors cash out.

1. American Banker: Stablecoins are a first step toward global, on-chain financial markets

2. Bloomberg: Michael Saylor Bets on a $100 Billion Bitcoin ‘Credit’ Dream

3. Fortune: Trump’s 29-year-old crypto guru Bo Hines is juggling dozens of job offers as he heads to the private sector