Story Protocol’s IP Token Faces Wild 20% Price Fluctuation in Unprecedented Trading Day

Story Protocol’s IP token saw an astonishing 20% price drop late Monday, only to rebound and recover the entire decline within a matter of hours, making for an eventful and highly volatile trading session. The IP token, which had been hovering around $4, plummeted to $3.27 before making a strong recovery and climbing back above $4 shortly thereafter.

The bulk of the trading volume during this tumultuous event took place on major exchanges such as Binance and OKX Spot, with over $40 million in volume before the sharp decline and an even more impressive $138 million in volume during the rapid recovery. This suggests that the move was largely driven by large spot sales and purchases, rather than leveraged futures trading.

At the time of the event, the overall crypto market was relatively stable, with Bitcoin trading at around $84,000, and no major catalysts influencing altcoins. This made the erratic movement of the IP token a notable anomaly in an otherwise calm market.

Speculation quickly spread throughout the crypto community, with rumors suggesting that large quantities of IP tokens, alongside other assets like MOVE and LAYER, were being sold off at deep discounts via over-the-counter (OTC) deals. Some market participants speculated that insider trading or coordinated selling could have contributed to the price volatility, with one user on X noting:

“Could this be connected to the Market maker named S? Just a thought…”

Despite these theories, the price action of IP tokens saw minimal losses in futures contracts—just $1.4 million in cumulative losses—indicating that the bulk of the volatility was contained to actual spot market transactions, rather than futures or derivative products.

The sudden downturn in IP tokens led some to draw comparisons to the massive 90% sell-off of Mantra (OM) tokens that took place earlier in the week. However, the underlying cause of IP’s volatility remains unclear, leaving market observers and traders speculating on the possible triggers behind the sudden price movements.

Story Protocol, a Layer 1 blockchain network designed to tokenize intellectual property, remains committed to enabling creators to register, license, and monetize their work on-chain. While the price swings of its native IP token remain a point of concern, the platform’s long-term vision continues to focus on revolutionizing intellectual property rights in the digital age.