Hyped ‘Baby Shark’ Crypto on Story Protocol Collapses 90% Amid Creator Denial

A “Baby Shark” token, promoted as officially connected to the viral YouTube video, crashed 90% after the issuing platform revealed it lacked authorization from the brand owner, Pinkfong Co.

The memecoin dropped from a Tuesday high of 35 cents to under 0.064 cents on Story Protocol, a layer-1 blockchain focused on intellectual property. Pinkfong, based in Seoul, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the token had “no affiliation whatsoever” with the company.

Baby Shark, a two-minute children’s music video launched in 2016, has amassed more than 16 billion views. The token, which briefly reached a market capitalization of $200 million, was issued via IP.World. The platform said it had relied on rights supplied by a Pinkfong licensee, which later proved invalid, preventing creator fees from being released.

“We, and the community, had every reason to believe the launch was fully authorized,” IP.World said. Pinkfong clarified that only two digital assets—the Baby Shark Meme on Solana and Baby Shark Universe Token on BNB Chain—are officially endorsed.

Traders who bought the token under the impression of an official Pinkfong partnership were left exposed, amplified by influencer promotions and Story Protocol’s marketing campaigns.

Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps reported that at least one participant funneled funds through multiple new wallets to capture roughly $10 million worth of tokens in the first minute of trading—representing about 7% of the total supply issued on September 23.

IP.World identified the licensee involved, though CoinDesk has not named the company due to unsuccessful contact attempts.

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