Two crypto projects that previously focused on blockchain infrastructure announced major strategic changes on June 25, 2026. Story Protocol has officially rebranded as The DATA Foundation, shifting its focus toward data infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI) training, while Sophon has decided to sunset Sophon Chain and move its application development to Base.

These moves reflect a broader shift across the crypto industry. The narrative is no longer centered solely on building new blockchains but is increasingly moving toward applications, data, and products that provide tangible value to both users and AI companies.

Story Protocol Becomes The DATA Foundation

Story Protocol, the Layer-1 project previously known for building on-chain intellectual property (IP) infrastructure, has officially rebranded as The DATA Foundation. Alongside this change, Story Network has also been renamed DATA Network.

The project's native token, $IP, will migrate to $DATA at a 1:1 ratio. According to the team, token holders will not need to take any action, as the migration will be carried out automatically through the project's transition mechanism.

This marks a significant pivot from Story Protocol's original vision. The project was initially designed to enable intellectual property including music, creative works, brands, and digital assets to be registered and licensed on-chain. However, the team found that adoption among major IP owners progressed more slowly than expected, as many companies preferred to maintain tight control over their intellectual property.

The DATA Foundation is now focusing on AI training data infrastructure. According to the team, AI companies are beginning to face a shortage of high-quality training data, as most easily scrapable internet content has already been utilized. Meanwhile, the remaining datasets are often expensive, exclusive, or lack clear legal documentation.

To address this challenge, the DATA Foundation aims to build a trust layer for AI data through the DATA Network. The network is designed to record data provenance, licensing information, user consent, and payment history for datasets used by AI companies.

As part of its new ecosystem, the DATA Foundation introduced Trace, a blockchain-based registration and audit platform. Trace enables AI companies to verify the origin of datasets without revealing the underlying data itself. Each dataset contribution can include on-chain proof of its source, usage permissions, payment status, and licensing history.

The DATA Foundation is also integrating Kled, an opt-in human data marketplace that brings more than 1 billion user data records into the DATA Network ecosystem. In addition, an AI data processing project called Poseidon will serve as the processing layer responsible for cleaning, evaluating, and validating dataset quality before the data is used by AI labs or enterprise buyers.

Story Protocol previously raised approximately US$140 million, with a16z crypto among its leading investors. Following the rebranding announcement, the DATA token recorded a double-digit gain within 24 hours despite continued weakness across the broader crypto market.

Sophon Shuts Down Its Own Chain to Focus on Consumer Applications on Base

On the same day, Sophon also announced a major strategic shift. The project, which previously developed a ZK Layer-2 network within the ZKsync Elastic Network ecosystem, will gradually sunset Sophon Chain and relocate its development efforts to Base, Coinbase's Layer-2 network.

Sophon is reintroducing itself as SOPH or Soph(+), a consumer product studio focused on building crypto applications for mainstream users. The team stated that maintaining its own blockchain no longer provides enough competitive advantage to justify the ongoing operational costs.

According to the project, Sophon spends approximately US$3.4 million annually to maintain its chain infrastructure, including rollup operations, data availability, analytics, tooling, and other supporting services. By shutting down its own chain and migrating to Base, the team expects to save roughly US$3 million per year.

Sophon previously raised US$60 million in 2024, with total reported funding reaching around US$70 million. The decision to discontinue its chain reflects a strategic shift toward investing capital in application development rather than maintaining infrastructure that is no longer viewed as a meaningful competitive differentiator.

The first flagship product under this new direction will be Pyre, a daily payments application built around the concept of gamified finance, or entertainment finance. The goal is to transform everyday financial activities including payments, transfers, and routine transactions into more engaging and interactive user experiences.

For Sophon Chain users, deposits were closed on June 25, 2026. However, the network is expected to remain operational until at least the end of 2026, giving users sufficient time to withdraw their assets. This transition will also redefine the utility of the SOPH token, shifting it from a gas and staking token for Sophon Chain into a token supporting the consumer application ecosystem built on Base.

Crypto Infrastructure Is Increasingly Becoming a Commodity

These two announcements highlight a growing trend across the crypto industry in 2026. Blockchain infrastructure particularly new Layer-1 and Layer-2 networks is increasingly being viewed as a commodity rather than a sustainable competitive moat.

Projects that once prioritized launching their own chains are now facing a fundamental question: Does maintaining an independent blockchain generate enough value to justify its cost?

For Sophon, the answer was no. The team chose to leverage Base as its infrastructure while reallocating resources toward products that users can directly benefit from.

The DATA Foundation, meanwhile, has taken a different approach. Rather than abandoning blockchain entirely, it is narrowing blockchain's role to a highly specific use case: AI data infrastructure. In this model, blockchain serves primarily as an audit, licensing, and provenance layer rather than as a general-purpose application platform.

The shift also reinforces Base's position as one of the leading Layer-2 ecosystems for consumer application developers. With lower operating costs, distribution through the Coinbase ecosystem, and growing user activity, Base has become an attractive destination for projects that want to focus on products instead of maintaining their own blockchain.

Impact on Tokens and the Ecosystem

From a market perspective, Story Protocol's rebranding into the DATA Foundation received an initially positive response. The DATA token climbed approximately 12%–17% following the announcement, driven by the AI data infrastructure narrative and the 1:1 token migration from IP to DATA. Nevertheless, price performance should still be viewed within the context of an overall volatile crypto market.

Meanwhile, the SOPH token traded weaker after Sophon's strategic pivot. Market data shows that SOPH continues to trade below US$0.01, with a relatively small market capitalization compared to the project's total funding. This suggests that investors are waiting for evidence that Sophon's new application-focused strategy can generate meaningful adoption and sustainable revenue.

From a broader ecosystem perspective, both the DATA Foundation and Sophon signal a changing source of value within crypto. The focus is gradually shifting from "who owns the blockchain" to "who builds products with real users and effective distribution."

For the DATA Foundation, the challenge will be demonstrating that AI companies genuinely need an on-chain registry for licensed datasets. For Sophon, success will depend on proving that consumer applications built on Base can create sustainable demand for the SOPH ecosystem.

Conclusion

Story Protocol's transformation into the DATA Foundation and Sophon's decision to sunset its proprietary Layer-2 network mark an important turning point for the crypto industry. Both projects illustrate a growing willingness to rethink which aspects of blockchain technology actually create long-term value.

The DATA Foundation is positioning blockchain as a trust layer for AI data, while Sophon is abandoning its own infrastructure to focus on building consumer applications on Base. If this trend continues, the second half of 2026 may become the period when crypto projects are judged less by the infrastructure they build and more by their ability to create products that are relevant, efficient, and widely adopted.