Story Protocol has completed a rebrand and will now operate as Data Network. Its token ticker is also changing, moving from $DATA to $IP. The team says the shift reflects a broader thesis for the AI era: not only intellectual property, but verified data itself, will define the network’s role.
According to the project, Story Protocol now tracks more than 1 billion data records. With that scale in place, the new objective is to become a trust layer for AI training data. The team said its earlier IP-focused framing had become too narrow, leading to both a name change and a token identity update.
How the token swap affects holders
For most holders, no action is required. If users hold native $IP, their balances will convert automatically to $DATA on a 1:1 basis. Staked positions remain intact, and both staking duration and pending stake status stay the same.
Wrapped $IP holders face one extra step, though the source states there is no deadline for completing it. The project also said $DATA is the network’s native token and does not have its own contract address. Two wrapped assets are currently live: WDATA at 0xD18a56346227f25D1410F98f78234305660bB877, and WDATAIP on BNB Chain at 0xA37EDed373c5cdF88644db7C6b89f222e756aFB2.
The team advised users to verify contract addresses through official channels before interacting with either wrapped token.
Binance Alpha 2.0 sets the first exchange timetable
Binance Alpha 2.0 has confirmed support for the rebrand and token transition. Under the published schedule, trading for $IP was paused on July 2, 2026, at 02:00 UTC so the 1:1 token swap could be processed.
Binance Alpha 2.0 expects DATAIP trading to resume at 08:00 UTC the same day, creating a halt window of about six hours. The source noted that Binance’s early support may serve as a cue for other exchanges, with additional relisting timelines likely to follow.
Based on the disclosed plan, this is more than a cosmetic rename. The project’s positioning, token labeling, and exchange support process have all shifted together, while the 1:1 conversion and unchanged staking terms point to a structured migration path.