Story (IP) overtakes VIRTUAL in strong recovery from post-launch

Story (IP), the native cryptocurrency of Story Protocol, has staged an impressive recovery after its post-mainnet launch, surging past VIRTUAL to claim a spot among the top 10 AI coins.

As of February 20, 2025, IP is trading at $3.17, reflecting 27% gains in just the past 24 hours and a remarkable 72.93% increase over the last week.

This rally has propelled its market capitalization to $792.85 million, cementing its rank at position 87 among cryptocurrencies.

With a 24-hour trading volume of $542.5 million, up 103.9%, Story cryptocurrency is buzzing with trader enthusiasm, a stark contrast to the slump it faced just days ago.

The post-mainnet launch decline

The journey to this point has been anything but smooth.

Story Protocol, a layer-1 blockchain designed to revolutionize intellectual property management on the internet, launched its Mainnet on February 13, alongside the debut of IP with an initial circulating supply of 250 million tokens — 25% of its 1 billion total supply.

The token hit exchanges like OKX, Coinbase, and Bitget with a promising start, opening at $2.89.

However, the excitement was short-lived.

An airdrop distributing 10% of the total supply to early users sparked a wave of sell-offs, dragging the price down to $1.37 within two days and eventually hitting an all-time low of $1.00.

Yet, in a stunning turnaround, IP has not only recovered but soared past its launch value, reaching an all-time high of $3.58 today before settling at its current level, down 9.6% from that peak but still up an astonishing 223.35% from its lowest point.

Story (IP) price technical analysis

The technical indicators paint a vivid picture of strength and momentum.

The Average Directional Index (ADX) has skyrocketed to 70.16 on the 1-hour chart, up from around 40 a day earlier, signalling an exceptionally strong trend.

While ADX doesn’t specify direction, IP’s position at an all-time high confirms this as a bullish surge, with momentum accelerating rather than fading.

Complementing this, the Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) has rebounded to 0.08, a sharp recovery from a low of -0.40 on February 15.

This shift from negative to positive territory highlights a resurgence of buying pressure, as capital flows back into the asset after a period of outflows.

On the 1-hour chart, IP’s price action reveals an ascending channel with a pattern of lower highs, suggesting the uptrend remains robust.

The Money Flow Index (MFI) has also climbed above the neutral line to 76.66 after dipping into oversold territory over the weekend, reinforcing the return of buyer dominance.

Similarly, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) has entered positive territory, further bolstering the bullish case.

The Exponential Moving Average (EMA) structure adds to the optimism, with short-term averages maintaining a healthy gap above long-term ones, a classic sign of sustained upward momentum.

Beyond the charts, market sentiment is also playing a pivotal role.

According to Santiment, the Weighted Sentiment around Story Protocol has climbed from a neutral 0 to a bullish 0.70, reflecting a wave of positive chatter across social media platforms.

This growing optimism, if sustained, could amplify demand for IP, pushing its price even higher.

In addition, the token’s fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $3.17 billion — based on its 1 billion total supply — hints at the market’s lofty expectations, though a notation of an infinite maximum supply raises questions about future issuance that remains unanswered for now.

Together, these metrics suggest Story is firing on all cylinders, overtaking competitors like VIRTUAL in market cap and positioning itself as a standout in the AI coin space.

Can Story (IP) sustain the bullish momentum?

A push to $3.50 seems within reach, with $4 a plausible target if buying pressure intensifies — a level that would mark a new high and solidify its status among altcoin leaders.

The technical analysis setup supports this outlook, with the EMA structure and rising indicators suggesting the uptrend has legs.

However, the road ahead isn’t without risks.

The ADX’s extreme reading of 55.1 raises the spectre of overextension, hinting that a cooling-off period could follow if momentum wanes.

Also, should the CMF dip back toward zero or the MFI signal weakening demand, a pullback might drag IP down to $1.69, aligning with the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement level, or even back to its post-launch low of $1.37.

Such a drop would test the resilience of this rally, especially if bulls fail to defend key support levels.

For now, though, the market seems captivated by Story’s resurgence, with its overtake of VIRTUAL underscoring its newfound prominence among AI-powered cryptocurrencies.