A memecoin linked to the name of Pinkfong plummeted on Thursday (25), after the company responsible for the Baby Shark phenomenon declared it had no connection to the token.
The digital asset was created on the Story Protocol network, which aims to facilitate the management of copyright and allow for derivative works. However, according to a statement from Pinkfong on X, the issuance occurred "without authorization," and the company promised severe legal actions against those responsible.
Although the Story Protocol was developed to reduce dependence on intermediaries in the intellectual property sector, the situation showed the opposite: a possible misunderstanding among users ended up attracting more lawyers than creators.
Pinkfong, which goes beyond its pink fox mascot, is a giant in children's entertainment: its YouTube channels have over 140 billion views and host the most-watched video on the platform — the hit 'Baby Shark.'
Before deletion, a post on X attributed to the Story Protocol suggested that users could 'remix and expand' the Pinkfong brand after its tokenization. The co-founder and CEO of the project, S.Y. Lee, even commented that he was curious to see the developments of this 'collaboration.'
On Tuesday, a few hours after its launch, the memecoin surged to a market capitalization of $519 million, but by Friday the value had plummeted to around $6.32 million, according to data from DEX Screener.
The on-chain analysis company Bubblemaps reported suspicious movements related to the token, including the immediate capture of 7% of the total supply. Despite this, no evidence was found connecting such actions directly to the Story Protocol.
Meanwhile, the native token of the Story experienced strong fluctuations: it fell from $12.91 to $7.24 since Tuesday, stabilizing around $9.35, according to numbers from CoinGecko.
It is worth noting that Pinkfong officially supports only two memecoins — one on Solana and another on BNB Chain. The unofficial version was launched by IP World, a platform that presents itself as 'built for degenerates, by degenerates.' The project claimed to have partnered with a supposed licensee of Pinkfong but later discovered that the license was not valid.
According to IP World, the case, although embarrassing, served to demonstrate its internal protections: as the intellectual property was not verified, the creation fees remained blocked in the protocol until the true owner of the rights was confirmed.
Even with the controversy, the platform made a point of stating that the failure does not directly involve the Story Protocol: 'The Story Protocol, blockchain on which IP World operates, has never been part of this agreement nor linked to licensing disputes,' it stated in a statement.
