What is Aria Protocol?

Aria Protocol is the onchain Protocol enabling investors to access and earn from iconic IP RWA (Intellectual Property Real-World Assets). Built on Story, the purpose built L1 blockchain for IP, Aria Protocol brings IP rights, starting with music, onchain as fungible, liquid tokens.

At present, the ecosystem is made up of three parts: Aria Protocol, the infrastructure Aria Foundation, the steward Aria Protocol Labs Inc., a core development company

Together, they bring iconic IP rights onchain as fungible and liquid crypto assets expanding accessibility and monetization of historically illiquid IP for investors, rights holders, creators, and fans.

Aria Protocol

Aria Protocol is the onchain infrastructure enabling investors to access and earn from iconic IP RWA (intellectual property real-world assets). It does this by bringing real-world IP rights, starting with music, onchain as fungible and liquid crypto assets. The Protocol is not owned or operated by any single entity.

What can you do with Aria Protocol?

Aria Protocol enables investors to access and earn from intellectual property (IP) rights, something that was previously inaccessible to all but the biggest players. IP rights are tokenized on the Protocol as IP RWA tokens (Intellectual Property Real-World Asset tokens), making them fungible and liquid.

With $APL, the first IP RWA token launched on Aria Protocol, holders are entitled to receive a share of royalties generated by the underlying IP assets. Users can hold and stake tokens to keep collecting royalties, or sell them to another buyer on a decentralized marketplace.

Aria Protocol additionally enables rights holders to make their IP remixable. As demonstrated by the launch of 3 songs by acclaimed Korean artist and actress NANA, in combination with a Global Remix Contest, producers are able to remix the tracks with all submissions having the chance to win prizes and a worldwide label release. The income from the released remixes will be tokenized on the Aria Protocol, with the net royalties flowing to both remixers and $APL holders.

How does Aria Protocol work?

Aria Protocol enables users to purchase IP RWA (Intellectual Property Real World Assets) tokens that they can access and earn from.

In the case of $APL, the first IP RWA token on Aria Protocol, it is linked to a portfolio of real-world royalty-generating music catalog rights where stakers are eligible to receive a portion of such royalties, with the IP rights acquired by Aria Management Company (affiliated with Aria Protocol Labs Inc.).

There were three basic steps in the lifecycle of $APL: Fundraising, Staking, and Royalty Collection.

Step 1: Fundraising

Before the $APL intellectual property rights were tokenized and royalties could be distributed, rights were acquired. Funds for the $APL portfolio were raised via the Stakestone LiquidityPad. Aria Management Company (affiliated with Aria Protocol Labs Inc.) then finalized the purchase of the intellectual property rights and began collecting the royalties associated with the purchased IP assets offchain. The users who participated in the fundraiser claimed their $APL tokens representing the assets, proportional to the amount that they contributed to the fundraiser.

Step 2: Staking

Once the royalty rights to the underlying intellectual property were tokenized and distributed to users, users were able to stake their holdings in order to earn royalties. While staked, users will earn royalties associated with the underlying $APL assets.

Step 3: Royalty Collection

Once staked, an $APL token becomes a $stAPL token, a staked version of the token that accrues royalties over time.

For example:

At launch, the exchange rate is 1:1 (1 $stAPL = 1 $APL). As royalties from the portfolio are collected offchain and used to buy back $APL on the open market, those tokens are deposited into the staking pool, increasing the amount of $APL backing each $stAPL.

As a result, the value of $stAPL gradually increases relative to $APL.

To realize these rewards, users have two options:

Option 1: Unstake via Aria WebApp

* They go to the Aria Protocol webapp and click on the Stake tab

* Unstake any amount of their $stAPL

* Their $stAPL is then burned automatically, and the equivalent amount of $APL is sent to their wallet at the current exchange rate

They can then choose to hold or restake, or may be able to convert their $APL into other tokens via a DEX, if available for trading.

Option 2: Swap $stAPL on a DEX

They can trade their $stAPL for $APL directly on a supported DEX (if available for trading). They can similarly choose to hold, stake, or convert their $APL into other cryptocurrencies or fiat.

* Exchange $stAPL for $APL at current market rates

* They retain full flexibility

Please note, the DEX market price may not reflect the onchain exchange rate due to arbitrage so be sure to check prices before swapping.

Once they have $APL again, they can restake to continue earning, or sell it for USDC or other assets via decentralized exchanges.

Don’t worry if this sounds technical. Aria Protocol’s platform provides a clean user experience with guided steps, and a full help center to walk you through everything.

What exactly are IP RWA tokens?

IP RWA stands for Intellectual Property Real World Assets, a new asset class at the heart of how Aria Protocol operates. Historically, access to valuable intellectual property rights has been limited to large institutions and industry insiders. Aria Protocol changes that by bringing IP rights onchain through IP RWA tokens.

IP RWA Tokens are ERC-20 tokens built on the Story blockchain. They are fungible tokens backed by a portfolio of real world IP asset rights, acquired by Aria Management Company (affiliated with Aria Protocol Labs Inc.). By tokenizing IP rights in this way, Aria Protocol makes it possible for anyone to access and earn from assets that were previously illiquid and inaccessible.