Soneium, the Ethereum layer-2 blockchain developed by Sony Group and Startale Group, has partnered with K-pop entertainment company DayOneDream.
The deal aims to put K-pop intellectual property, and the revenue tied to it, onchain as tokenized assets, according to an announcement published on Tuesday (September 29).
DayOneDream is the company behind K-pop acts including BTOB, Lee Chae Yeon, MEMI, and 2F, according to the announcement.
The partnership centers on WAVIST, DayOneDream’s K-pop IP tokenization platform.
According to the companies, WAVIST is “designed to connect entertainment IP with real-world financial infrastructure.”
In May this year, WAVIST completed what the companies describe as “the full lifecycle of a tokenized IP bond issued to finance K-pop IP, from issuance through final redemption and burning.”
Neither Soneium nor DayOneDream disclosed the value of that bond, or which artists’ IP it financed. The companies also did not say when the first assets will be offered on Soneium, or how large any offering will be.
Going forward, Soneium and WAVIST say they will “continue to bring tokenized K-content assets and their associated revenue streams onchain.”
According to DayOneDream and Soneium, eligible users will get new ways to access the IP they back, while IP owners will gain further ways to monetize it.
Those benefits are “subject to applicable regulatory and eligibility requirements,” the joint announcement added.
WAVIST has previously run its tokenized assets on Story, a rival blockchain focused on intellectual property.
In March this year, Nasdaq-listed IP Strategy Holdings – which holds Story’s token as its primary treasury asset, operates a validator on the network, and publicizes projects across its ecosystem – said WAVIST had completed a first round of asset sales totaling USD $3.22 million with Singapore’s SBI Digital Markets and Korea’s Kyobo Life Insurance, and was structuring a USD $15 million fund.
Those partnerships were first announced in November 2025 by WITCH Company, the entertainment technology firm then operating WAVIST – and DayOneDream, then trading as DOD, was named alongside SBI Digital Markets and Kyobo Life Insurance in that announcement.
DayOneDream completed its acquisition of WITCH Company in May this year. WITCH Company was subsequently renamed Pledge Inc.
According to WAVIST’s website, its investment products are offered outside the US under Regulation S, and are not available to US persons.
The website says the platform is operated by Pledge Inc., and lists a Concert Fund as its lead product, alongside a Content Fund and an Artist Fund that is yet to launch. The site says WAVIST draws on the track record of DayOneDream, which it describes as its parent group.
“K-pop is a market unlike any other, yet the way capital reaches it has barely changed,” said Dylan Cho, RWA (real-world asset) Lead at DayOneDream. “Our partnership with Soneium sits where RWA, IP, and K-pop meet, and it opens a real path to investing through the IP itself.
“K-pop is a market unlike any other, yet the way capital reaches it has barely changed. Our partnership with Soneium sits where RWA, IP, and K-pop meet, and it opens a real path to investing through the IP itself.”
Dylan Cho, DayOneDream
“With the world watching this industry, we intend to make it the most compelling product out there.”
“Entertainment IP is one of the clearest opportunities for bringing real-world value onchain,” said Yuji Kumagai, Head of Soneium Protocol. “Soneium brings creators and IP owners who already have a strong following, like DayOneDream, together with the fans and investors who want to back them.
“Creators get a new way to raise funds for the work they want to make, and their supporters share in the value it creates, which helps the IP grow further. K-pop is a great place to start, and we will keep bringing more entertainment IP onto Soneium.”
“Creators get a new way to raise funds for the work they want to make, and their supporters share in the value it creates, which helps the IP grow further. K-pop is a great place to start, and we will keep bringing more entertainment IP onto Soneium.”
Yuji Kumagai, Soneium
In the announcement, the two companies argue that the millions of people who follow K-pop have been left “with few opportunities to participate in the economics behind the entertainment they love.”
The partnership was unveiled at an event in Seoul held during Korea Blockchain Week 2026.
Sony announced Soneium in August 2024.
At the time, the blockchain was developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs, a Singapore-headquartered joint venture between Sony and Startale Labs, as Startale Group was then known.
Sony owned 90% of that joint venture, with Startale Labs holding the remaining 10%.
In its launch announcement, Sony Block Solutions Labs said it would study “new mechanisms for returning profits to support creators and fans.”
In January 2025, Sony disclosed plans for NFT distributions through Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan and Sony Music Entertainment France, and for J-pop group Sandal Telephone.
The following month, Sony Music Publishing Japan used Soneium to distribute those NFTs to Sandal Telephone’s fans, ahead of the group’s disbandment that April.
Other companies have previously put rights linked to K-pop repertoire on the blockchain.
In December 2023, Opulous, from the team behind Ditto Music, acquired a catalog from songwriter Julia Ross, as MBW reported.
That catalog included Ross’s contributions to music by BTS, TWICE, and FIFTY FIFTY.
At that point, Opulous was acquiring music catalogs and “tokenizing” them via its OVAULT product, so that holders of its OPUL token could buy shares in royalty streams.Music Business Worldwide
