The Nasdaq-listed company Heritage Distilling Holding Company (ticker CASK) announced a large-scale strategy. The $IP tokens - the cryptocurrency owned by the Story Foundation - will enter its treasury worth about $360 million. The company will be the first public company to consider intellectual property tokens as a key asset in its reserve.
Round PIPE: mixed capital and contributions in tokens
The strategic initiative was realised through a $220 million PIPE placement, divided into:
- $100 million in cash investments;
- another $120 million in $IP tokens provided by the Story Foundation and strategic partners.
A portion of the funds - $82 million - will be allocated to Heritage for the purchase of $IP tokens at a fixed price of $3.40 per token. Thus, Heritage will receive about 52.5 million $IP tokens, with a nominal value of about $361 million based on the 10 August exchange rate (~$6.88).
Programmable IP is going mainstream.
- Story (@StoryProtocol) August 11, 2025
Heritage Distilling (Nasdaq: CASK) has announced the launch of a new $360M $IP token reserve with $220M in PIPE financing ($100M in cash and $120M in $IP tokens) and participation from prominent investors including @@a16zcrypto,... pic.twitter.com/WCRoZO8PZX
Support liquidity and return to market
The Story Foundation commits to use 100% of the proceeds from the sale of Heritage tokens to buy back $IP tokens on the open market within 90 days of the transaction's conclusion. This step aims to stabilise the price and support the liquidity of the asset.
Partnerships with large investors and advisors
Participants in the placement include major funds and players such as a16z crypto, Polychain Capital, Amber Group, Arrington Capital and others. Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. and Roth Capital Partners acted as financial advisors, while blockchain consulting firm Open World provided strategic support.
Story: infrastructure for IP tokens and the future of AI
The Story blockchain was created for the registration, management and monetisation of intellectual property via smart contracts. The ecosystem includes the Aria and Ablo applications, through which thousands of creative objects have been tokenized, including works and brands related to artists such as Justin Bieber, BTS, Blackpink, and brands such as Adidas and Crocs.
In addition, Story collaborates with Stability AI, providing transparent licences for training artificial intelligence models. In Q3 2025, Grayscale launched Story Trust, a tool for institutional access to $IP tokens. The Poseidon incubator, launched in July, offers tokenized datasets for AI, AR/VR, and robotics.
Market reaction and challenges
The market reacted quickly: Heritage shares plummeted 28-30% immediately after the announcement. The $IP token lost 12-15% in a single day, while remaining above its monthly low (+36%). Investors expressed concerns:
- Non-standard strategy for a listed company;
- high volatility and possible risk of price manipulation through reverse repurchases.
Looking to the future: diversification, AI and tokenized assets
For Heritage, this move represents not only asset protection, but also entry into a new era of digital stocks and AI-fintech. The company positions the token $IPs as strategic assets capable of generating income through staking and participation in the Story ecosystem.
This case could become a model for other public companies looking for ways to diversify reserves and participate in the tokenised economy. However, the real value is yet to be proven: much will depend on compliance with commitments, market performance and the ability to further develop the Story project.
