Why DATA Network Is Ditching Its Own Blockchain for Sui

TLDR

• DATA Network, formerly Story, will retire its independent blockchain and run natively on Sui.
• Sui Foundation is investing $30 million and will become the network’s largest institutional holder.
• The existing DATA token will move to Sui on a one-to-one basis.
• Walrus, a storage platform in the Sui ecosystem, will be the default storage layer for DATA Foundation apps.
• A detailed timeline and holder transition plan will be published before the upgrade.

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DATA Network, formerly known as Story, plans to shut down its independent blockchain and move its AI training data protocol to Sui. The move is backed by a $30 million investment from Sui Foundation, according to a statement shared on Monday.

DATA is coming to @SuiNetwork.

The DATA Network and Trace are joining the Sui stack, bringing a live supply of rights-cleared AI training data to infrastructure built for AI workloads.

With 250M+ receipts already recorded by Trace, AI labs will be able to source real-world data… pic.twitter.com/gTVY4ksyVl

— The DATA Foundation (@datafdn) October 12, 2026

Under the partnership, DATA Network will be upgraded to run as a protocol natively on Sui. Its independent chain will be retired once the upgrade is complete.

The existing DATA token will move to Sui on a one-to-one basis. Holders will not need to exchange at a different rate.

Sui Foundation will become the network’s largest institutional holder. Existing stakeholders PIP Labs and DATA Foundation will remain involved.

The $30 million investment is a separate part of the partnership, a DATA Foundation spokesperson told Cointelegraph. The spokesperson was responding to a question about whether the money influenced the decision to move.

Why the Project Is Leaving Its Own Chain

The spokesperson said running a dedicated blockchain for a single use case meant carrying the costs of validators, network security and infrastructure. That cost became harder to justify as the project’s focus narrowed.

Story Foundation rebranded to DATA Foundation in June. It shifted from intellectual property licensing to building a full stack for AI training data.

“Building storage and access control at that scale ourselves would have meant rebuilding what Sui already has in Walrus and Seal,” the spokesperson said.

Walrus, a decentralized storage platform in the Sui ecosystem, will become the default storage layer for applications run by DATA Foundation. Its partners said the integration is part of the deal.

What Trace Does

Trace launched in June. It tracks the origin and usage rights of AI training data and settles payment to the person who contributed it.

The two reports give different figures for Trace activity. Cointelegraph reported more than 270 million registrations in about four months. The statement shared with The Block said the registry has recorded more than 250 million contributions since launch.

The registry also processes more than 3 million receipts per day on average, according to the statement. The foundation said the upgrade gives AI labs a place to source real-world training data they are allowed to use.

Adeniyi Abiodun, co-founder and chief product officer at Mysten Labs, commented on the deal. Mysten Labs was the original contributor to Sui and Walrus.

He said the open internet has been read, and the next area of focus is data with the consent and provenance that regulators require. He added that the migration brings large volumes of rights-cleared data already serving frontier AI labs.

What Happens Next

DATA Network will keep operating until the upgrade is finished. The partners did not give a date for the migration.

They said a detailed timeline and a holder transition plan will be published before the upgrade begins. As of Monday, those details had not been released.