Heritage Distilling Holding Company (Nasdaq: CASK) is set to become the first publicly traded U.S. firm to use a blockchain-based intellectual property asset as its primary treasury reserve.
The Washington-based distiller announced on August 11 that it will hold roughly $360 million worth of Story Protocol’s native IP tokens following a landmark financing deal.
Programmable IP is going mainstream.
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
— Story (@StoryProtocol) August 11, 2025
The agreement combines cash and token commitments totaling $220 million, with participation from Story Foundation and prominent digital asset investors. Of that sum, $82 million will be used to directly acquire IP tokens from Story Foundation at $3.40 apiece. Once completed, Heritage’s treasury will contain approximately 52.5 million IP tokens, valued at $361 million based on the August 10 market price of $6.8785.
The company also plans to raise $100 million through a mix of common stock and warrants, while strategic partners will contribute additional tokens. Story Foundation intends to deploy all net cash proceeds to repurchase IP tokens from the open market within 90 days—a measure aimed at bolstering token liquidity and aligning long-term incentives. Cantor Fitzgerald and Roth Capital Partners will act as joint placement agents, with blockchain consultancy Open World advising on the transaction.
The IP token underpins Story Protocol, an AI-driven blockchain platform designed to register, license, and monetize intellectual property onchain. Its ecosystem powers applications such as Aria and Ablo, which have facilitated high-profile collaborations with Adidas, BTS, and Justin Bieber. The token is used for transactions, staking, and network validation.
Heritage’s decision marks a strategic shift in how corporations view digital assets—moving beyond traditional stores of value to assets that can generate yield and reinforce ecosystem participation. The announcement follows Story Protocol’s mainnet debut in February 2025 and builds on its partnerships with Stability AI, Grayscale, and other institutional players.
Despite the milestone announcement, the IP token’s price slid 12% over the past 24 hours to $6.09, though it remains up 36% in the last month according to CoinMarketCap. With a $1.8 billion market capitalization, the asset still trades 16% below its February all-time high.
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