Origin Summit Unveils Second Wave of Global Icons Ahead of Debut During KBW
Seoul & Palo Alto, South Korea & United Sates, September 10th, 2025, Chainwire
With its September 23 debut fast approaching, Origin Summit reveals a powerful second wave of speakers at the forefront of culture, AI, blockchain, and capital
Story, the world’s IP blockchain, in collaboration with Blockworks), today revealed a powerful second wave of speakers and participants who will take the stage during Korea Blockchain Week in Seoul.The speaker line upbrings together leading voices across AI, blockchain, and finance to explore how intellectual property (IP) is becoming the most consequential real-world asset class of the AI era set to unlock an $80 trillion, illiquid market at the heart of AI’s next evolution.
Hosted by Story, the world’s IP blockchain, in collaboration with Blockworks and Korea Economic Daily (Korea’s largest finance media group), Origin Summit is the premier institutional forum at the intersection of AI, capital, and programmable IP.
This second wave strengthens Origin Summit’s mission: to bridge culture, institutional capital, AI, and next-generation infrastructure. These speakers bring unique perspectives on everything from entertainment and gaming IP to digital identity, tokenization, and the future of AI-native creative economies.
Wave 2 Confirmed Speakers & Participants:
Sooman Lee – Founder, SM Entertainment; Founder & CEO, A2O Entertainment
Visionary founder of SM Entertainment, widely regarded as the architect of modern K-pop, having launched global icons like H.O.T., BoA, TVXQ, Super Junior, Girls’ Generation, and EXO. Now leading A2O Entertainment with a focus on AI-driven cultural innovation.
Arthur Hayes – Co-founder & former CEO, BitMEX
Legendary crypto pioneer and macro thinker. As co-founder of BitMEX, Hayes helped usher in the crypto derivatives era and remains a powerful voice on decentralized finance and global markets.
Justin Sun – Founder, TRON; Member, HTX Global Advisory Board
Known for bold moves and industry-shaping deals, Justin Sun is the Founder of TRON and Advisor to HTX. Justin built one of the most globally scaled L1s in history and remains a prominent voice in global crypto adoption.
A Convergence of AI, IP, and Real-World Value
Intellectual property (IP) is the backbone of global creativity, culture, and innovation. IP spans everything from AI training data and music catalogs to biotech patents, entertainment franchises, and user-generated content. Valued at over $80 trillion, IP is one of the world’s largest and most important asset classes, but it remains fragmented, illiquid, and largely invisible to markets.
As artificial intelligence advances, access to verified, rights-cleared IP is becoming critical. Models need structured data, not scraped content, and AI-native applications require infrastructure that can trace, license, and monetize contributions in real time. Meanwhile, institutional capital is searching for the next wave of real-world assets, and crypto is evolving from speculation to programmable ownership. IP sits at the center of this convergence. Origin Summit brings together the builders, investors, and cultural leaders unlocking the programmable IP economy, where AI, crypto, and capital align around one of the most consequential frontiers of the next decade.
Why Korea
Few places on earth better capture the convergence of culture, capital, and technology than South Korea. It’s home to one of the world’s most digitally fluent populations, a booming creative IP sector, widespread digital-asset adoption, and some of the strongest industrial players advancing embodied AI.
- Cultural IP exports, including music, gaming, film, and animation, reached $13.6 billion in 2024.
- IP exports have more than tripled over the past decade, hitting $9.85 billion.
- South Korea has the largest number of paid ChatGPT subscribers outside the U.S., reflecting its world-leading AI adoption. Weekly usage has exploded (up 4.5× over the past year), making it one of the most dynamic and AI-savvy markets globally.
- Korea is fast emerging as the frontier of Physical AI and robotics, with Samsung, LG, Hyundai, and SK leading the charge. It has the world’s highest robot density (1,012 per 10,000 workers) and a robotics market growing nearly 15% annually, reinforced by the K-Humanoid Alliance aiming for advanced humanoids by 2028.
- Crypto adoption is surging, with 30% of the population (~15.6 million people) actively investing in digital assets.
- South Korean exchanges currently capture nearly 50% of global altcoin trading volume.
- Coupled with a vibrant retail trading base ($663B in KRW trades vs USD markets) and consolidated liquidity on platforms like Upbit and Bithumb, Korea has emerged as a critical hub for digital asset innovation.
- The domestic crypto market reached a value of ₩102 trillion, with daily trading volumes up 20% year-over-year.
Wave 1: Previously Announced Speakers
Wave 1 speakers include creators and executives behind BLACKPINK, BTS, Baby Shark, Lineage, and leading institutions across finance, blockchain, and entertainment:
- Kyoung In Jung (CEO, The Black Label)
- Ryan Seungkyu Lee (Co-founder, The Pinkfong Company)
- Amy Oldenburg (Head of Emerging Markets, Morgan Stanley)
- Lee Sung-soo (CAO, SM Entertainment)
- Jake Jaekyung Song (Co-founder, Nexon)
- Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary (MD, Grayscale)
- Brandon Yu (President, HYBE APAC)
- Luca Netz (CEO, Pudgy Penguins & Igloo)
- Sunghwan Choi (President, SK Networks)
- Yat Siu (Chairman, Animoca Brands)
- Sandeep Nailwal (Co-founder, Polygon)
- Jangwon Lee (CEO, Contents Technologies)
Event Logistics
Date: September 23, 2025
Location: Seoul, South Korea (during Korea Blockchain Week)
Format: Curated for institutional investors, IP holders, AI builders, and cultural leaders
Website: www.originsummit.xyz
Registration: Limited capacity. Interested parties can request access via the event website.
Produced by: Story Protocol, in collaboration with Blockworks and Korea Economic Daily
About Origin Summit
Origin Summit is the premier institutional event at the intersection of AI, blockchain, finance and intellectual property. Hosted by Story, in collaboration with Blockworks and Hankyung Media Group, the Summit convenes global leaders to define the infrastructure powering the programmable IP economy. Taking place during Korea Blockchain Week 2025 in Seoul, Origin Summit will explore how AI, crypto, and capital are converging to unlock the world’s most valuable untapped asset class.
About Story
Backed with $136 million from a16z, Polychain, and Samsung Ventures, Story launched its mainnet in February 2025 and has rapidly become the leading blockchain infrastructure for tokenized intellectual property. Story is a blockchain purpose-built to make intellectual property a programmable digital asset with embedded rights. It enables creators, developers, enterprises, and AI labs to turn media, data, and AI-generated content into programmable, legally enforceable digital assets, fueling use cases across AI, entertainment, robotics, and more. Designed for scale, Story bridges the gap between outdated legal frameworks and the realities of AI-era creation, making it possible to track provenance, automate licensing, and unlock new markets for ideas. As the foundation for $IP’s evolution into an internet-native asset class, Story powers a more open, equitable, and composable creative economy. Users can learn more at https://www.story.foundation.
About Blockworks
Blockworks is an information platform that sits at the center of the crypto industry. We transform raw, complex data and facts into actionable research, trusted news, alpha-driven insights, and world-class events. The result is transparency and confidence. They enable investors, operators, and institutions to see past the noise, make better decisions, and drive the industry forward.