Co-founder of Story Protocol unexpectedly leaves – Will the IP Token hold its value?

Jason Zhao, co-founder of Story Protocol, announced his departure from the project after 3.5 years of involvement in a shocking move. This decision has sparked intense debate within the community. Will this development affect the price of the IP token?

The Departure of the Co-Founder Shakes Story Protocol

Jason Zhao, co-founder of Story Protocol, has officially announced his departure. The withdrawal of a key figure right after the project completed the Token Generation Event (TGE) has immediately sparked mixed reactions.

The previous project raised approximately 134 million dollars from various venture capital funds (VC) and launched the token in February 2025. Notably, an American company recently bet 360 million dollars on Story, and the IP Token has also been added to the Top 20 list of Grayscale Research.

However, the Story Protocol currently only records a Total Value Locked of (TVL) of approximately 25 million dollars and daily fee revenue of merely about 17 dollars – a rather modest figure compared to many other blockchains.

TVL of Story | Source: DefilLamaSome opinions suggest that Zhao's departure is not just a personal decision but also a result of power struggles within Story Protocol. Many accuse Jason Zhao of being "removed from the company he co-founded" by individuals who are "more cunning and have bigger egos."

A16z is one of the main venture capital funds (VC) supporting projects and is currently the most mentioned name. After the drama at Story Protocol, many people have a negative view of these types of VC funds.

A user X commented:

"Crypto VCs like a16z or Paradigm are not really supporting actual builders. They are just pouring money into a bunch of scammers, then dressing up empty tricks as what they call innovation. Their game is not about trust, but just capital deployment."

On the contrary, there are also people speaking up in defense of A16z:

"A16z hasn't even started promoting IP yet. They have invested in this team 5 times, making it the crypto project they have funded the most ever, so are you being pessimistic?"

What’s next for the IP token?

Despite this major drama, the price of the IP token has hardly seen any significant fluctuations. According to data, IP has only decreased by less than 4% in the past 24 hours. Even as the community is abuzz with the drama involving the founder, the market seems to still maintain confidence in the long-term potential of the Story Protocol.

Price chart of Story (IP) | Source: TradingviewFrom a community perspective, the reaction to Jason Zhao's departure is quite polarized. Some are concerned that losing a founding member will impact the project's development direction, while others believe that Story Protocol has moved past the stage of relying on a single individual.

In fact, it is not uncommon for founders to leave a project after the TGE. Many previous precedents show that token prices can drop significantly, even losing almost all of their value.

Dinh Dinh