Story Protocol recently announced the acquisition and tokenization of partial copyrights for two hit songs, “Nobody’s Love” by Maroon 5 and “Daisies” by Katy Perry.

Bringing Maroon 5 and Katy Perry’s copyrights onto the blockchain could open up a new wave of investment, making it easier for investors to access the music copyright sector. But does the trend of tokenizing Real World Assets (RWA) in the music industry truly have potential?

Story Protocol Tokenizes Songs By Maroon 5 & Katy Perry

According to an official announcement from Story Protocol (IP), the Aria protocol—part of the Story ecosystem—has acquired and tokenized a portion of the copyrights for the hit songs Nobody’s Love by Maroon 5 and Daisies by Katy Perry.

The choice of Maroon 5 and Katy Perry likely stems from their status as top-tier artists with massive fan bases. Maroon 5 has won three Grammy Awards and sold over 135 million records worldwide, while Katy Perry has sold over 100 million records, with multiple diamond-certified singles.

“Katy Perry and Maroon 5 aren’t just topping charts anymore—they’re topping investment portfolios,” commented an X user.

Both Nobody’s Love and Daisies have high streaming numbers, generating sustainable passive revenue. Tokenizing the copyright for these songs allows for the rights to be divided into digital tokens that investors can trade or hold.

This move is part of a broader plan to acquire portions of over 50 copyrights from major artists, including BLACKPINK, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, and others, as previously announced by Story Protocol.

Does Music Copyright Tokenization Have Real Potential?

As BeInCrypto has highlighted, Real-World Asset Tokenization refers to the process of converting physical or intangible assets into digital tokens on the blockchain. According to CoinGecko data, as of press time, the market capitalization of RWA-related projects stands at over $32 billion.

“It’s clear that the world’s largest financial market infrastructures see a huge opportunity emerging from the DLT/Blockchain industry’s ability to connect counterparties around various forms of RWA tokenization,” said Sergey Nazarov, Co-founder of Chainlink.

Moreover, Security Token Market recently predicted that the tokenized RWA market could reach $30 trillion by 2030, with leading sectors including securities, real estate, bonds, and gold.

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the economic value of Intellectual Property (IP)—including copyrights, patents, and trademarks—contributes around 38% of global GDP, equivalent to more than $30 trillion annually (based on a global GDP of $80-$100 trillion). The copyright industry alone (music, film, books) accounts for approximately $5.8 trillion.

Despite its massive value, the IP sector remains one of the least liquid asset classes. Buying, licensing, or valuing IP is often complex, time-consuming, and dependent on legal intermediaries. Tokenizing IP could enable more transparent, efficient transactions and management through digital tokens, making this a potential sector that Story Protocol aims to solve.

Opportunities And Challenges Ahead for Story Protocol

While the potential of RWA in the IP sector is undeniable, Story Protocol still faces significant challenges in capturing this market. First, Story is not the only RWA-focused project.

Competitors like Ondo Finance (Ondo Chain), Centrifuge, and MakerDAO have already established a presence. Story Protocol is still relatively small and just recently launched its mainnet, meaning it must demonstrate unique advantages in the IP niche.

Second, tokenizing IP requires legal recognition from organizations like WIPO and compliance with the Berne Convention. Without overcoming these legal hurdles, Story Protocol may struggle to attract major IP holders.

Story Protocol’s move to tokenize the copyrights of hit songs aligns with its broader strategy to enter the IP sector. However, success in this space will require proving its utility and overcoming legal and market adoption challenges.

Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, has shortlisted 10 altcoins for close monitoring, with potential for delisting.  

This review, set to take around 30 days, reflects Binance’s attempts to enhance market quality.

Binance Shortlists 10 Altcoins For Potential Delisting

Following its announcement to list GoPlus Security (GPS), Binance shared another update detailing extending its monitoring tags to 10 altcoins.

Specifically, Aergo (AERGO), Alpaca Finance (ALPACA), AirSwap (AST), Badger DAO (BADGER), BurgerCities (BURGER), COMBO (COMBO), NULS (NULS), STP (STPT), UniLend (UFT), and VIDT DAO (VIDT) are now on the list, effectively placing them on high risk of delisting.

“Tokens with the Monitoring Tag exhibit notably higher volatility and risks compared to other listed tokens. These tokens are closely monitored, with regular reviews conducted. Keep in mind that tokens with the Monitoring Tag are at risk of no longer meeting our listing criteria and being delisted from the platform,” Binance explained in a blog.

Accordingly, Binance has implemented a new requirement for users looking to trade any tokens marked on its Spot trading and Margin platforms. To gain access, traders must pass a risk-awareness quiz every 90 days. This measure ensures that users understand the risks associated with these tokens before engaging in trades.

The exchange emphasized that this shortlisting does not guarantee delisting. Binance will conduct periodic project reviews and decide whether to add or remove the Monitoring Tag. Notably, this decision will hinge on current findings after the review process.

Nevertheless, this assurance did not assuage token holders. In the immediate aftermath of this potential delisting announcement, the values of the 10 cited tokens dipped, posting double-digit losses as investors traded the news.

Notably, tokens with the Monitoring Tag present high risk due to concerns spanning regulatory uncertainty, low liquidity, or extreme volatility. Binance displays this tag on the corresponding Spot and Margin trading pages and the Markets Overview section. Additionally, the exchange shows a risk-warning banner whenever users interact with these tokens.

Citing community feedback, the leading exchange by trading volume said its monitoring tag would now be updated monthly. Nevertheless, it will continue to review the removal of Monitoring and Seed Tags quarterly. 

“New projects will be added in the first week of every month,” the exchange added.

By enforcing this requirement, Binance aims to educate and protect its users, ensuring they make informed decisions. The move reflects the exchange’s increasing focus on risk management and compliance in a growing regulatory environment.

Meanwhile, the drop seen across the affected tokens is unsurprising, presenting as a typical reaction to such announcements. For instance, in December, Binance’s decision to delist three altcoins sent affected tokens down a cliff to record double-digit losses.

Conversely, listing announcements have the opposite effect. BeInCrypto reported earlier how Binance exchange’s move to list GPS sent the token soaring by over 10%.

Nasdaq has officially submitted a 19-b 4 form to the SEC seeking approval to list and trade the Grayscale Hedera Trust (HBAR) shares. This filing is a standard step in the HBAR exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval process.

The exchange classifies the shares as Commodity-Based Trust Shares under Nasdaq Rule 5711(d). This aligns them with regulated investment vehicles like spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF.

Grayscale HBAR ETF Awaits SEC Green Light

The filing marks the latest development in a series of efforts to bring Hedera into the regulated financial spotlight. The proposal was submitted under Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act 1934. This allows exchanges to request rule changes to list new financial instruments.

“The proposed rule change is designed to perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and, in general, to protect investors and the public interest in that it will facilitate the listing and trading of Shares that will enhance competition among market participants, to the benefit of investors and the marketplace,” the filing read.

Nasdaq’s move follows a similar application on behalf of Canary Capital. The asset manager has also been pursuing an HBAR-based ETF. 

Canary Capital first submitted an S-1 application on November 12, 2024. This was followed by a 19b-4 application in late February, marking its own advancement in the ETF approval pipeline.

At present, neither Grayscale’s nor Canary Capital’s HBAR ETF proposal has been published in the Federal Register. This means both remain in a preliminary review stage. 

The SEC is currently evaluating whether the filings meet procedural and completeness requirements before determining the next steps. Once published, the proposals will enter a 45-day initial review period, during which the SEC can approve, deny, or extend the evaluation timeline. If the SEC needs more time, it may extend the review process for up to 240 days before making a final decision.

If approved, the Grayscale and the Canary Capital HBAR ETF would offer investors a regulated pathway to gain exposure to HBAR without directly holding the asset. This reflects a growing trend of institutional interest in cryptocurrency-based investment products.

Meanwhile, HBAR previously saw a fleeting 10% price surge following the news of Nasdaq’s filing for Canary Capital’s ETF. Nonetheless, the latest development has failed to generate a similar market response. 

Instead, HBAR was down 6.8% over the past 24 hours. Its trading price stood at $0.23 at press time. Despite the decline, HBAR has still outperformed other smart contract platform cryptocurrencies, which have collectively fallen 8.8%, as per CoinGecko.