The Sui Foundation injected $30 million into DATA Network on October 12, 2026, establishing the foundation as its largest institutional holder. This new stake puts Sui on equal footing with existing long-term holders PIP Labs and DATA Foundation. Rather than maintaining an independent network, DATA Network has chosen to decommission its standalone blockchain and fully migrate to Sui’s infrastructure.
This move marks an evolving trajectory for Web3 projects: abandoning the overhead of maintaining a proprietary blockchain in favor of building atop an established network.
Standalone Chain Shut Down, Tokens Swapped 1:1
The decommissioning of the standalone chain was promptly followed by an asset conversion framework. DATA Network established a 1:1 migration ratio, meaning each legacy DATA token will be replaced by one DATA token on the Sui network. This rule also applies to locked tokens and active vesting schedules, all of which will transition without altering their release terms.
Storage requirements for DATA Foundation applications are now entrusted to Walrus, a decentralized storage platform within the Sui ecosystem. The transition also includes an executive adjustment: SY Lee, Chairman of Poseidon and CEO of PIP Labs, has officially joined the Sui Foundation as a strategic advisor.
3 Million Daily Receipts Shift to Sui
The migration to Sui builds on DATA Foundation’s strategic pivot four months ago. In June 2026, the project, formerly known as Story Protocol, shifted from general intellectual property licensing toward providing artificial intelligence (AI) training data infrastructure. Under this new focus, it launched Trace as an on-chain registry to track the provenance of AI training data.
Trace brings heavy transaction volume to the Sui network. Since debuting in June 2026, Trace has registered more than 250 million contributions and processed an average of over 3 million receipts per day. The ecosystem is already utilized by Kled, an AI data contribution marketplace that has compiled over 1.5 billion data records, as well as apps Numo and Oto. All activity records from these applications will ultimately be anchored on Sui infrastructure.
What Valuation Lies Behind the $30M Deal?
Although the partnership has been officially announced, developers have not yet released a definitive migration date. A detailed timeline and step-by-step guide will be published closer to the system upgrade process.
The Sui Foundation and DATA Network have also kept the financial specifics of the agreement strictly confidential. Neither the investment structure nor DATA Network’s valuation has been disclosed to the public, leaving it unclear whether the $30 million capital injection has been fully disbursed or remains tied to specific milestones. For DATA token holders, the most prudent approach right now is to await official announcements regarding the migration schedule before transferring any assets.
Reported via crypto.news.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
