The DATA Network has crossed 100 million data registrations on the blockchain, marking a milestone for the project that recently rebranded from Story to The DATA Foundation. The network’s Trace audit layer now creates a permanent onchain record for each registration, providing legal receipts that AI labs can use to verify training data provenance.
Why the numbers are climbing
New registrations are running at roughly three to five million per day, according to the foundation. Kled, an anchor data contributor, holds a backlog of over one billion files, with more than 900 million still to be registered at the current pace. Each registration requires a fee paid in $DATA, and the network’s daily onchain revenue has jumped more than 200x from a few weeks ago, reaching thousands of dollars. The DATA Network now ranks among the top 20 chains by fees.
Upbit competition and market activity
Upbit, the South Korean exchange, is running a four-day $DATA trading competition from July 24 to July 27, 2026. The event includes a quiz, deposit missions, and trading missions with leaderboard rewards. $DATA has been trading on Upbit since July 8, 2026. The competition is available only in eligible jurisdictions and is not open to U.S. persons or residents of OFAC-restricted countries.
Why data provenance matters now
Andrea Muttoni, CEO of The DATA Foundation, said the network addresses a critical gap: AI has largely exhausted usable public internet data, and the next generation of models depends on real-world data from people. The market for licensed AI training data is valued in the billions of dollars and is expected to grow exponentially. The Trace system is designed to give AI labs a verifiable chain of custody for that data.
What to watch next
Network activity can be followed on public dashboards such as DefiLlama and Blockscout. With Kled’s backlog still massive and daily registrations accelerating, the question is how quickly the remaining 900 million files will be processed — and whether the Upbit competition will push $DATA volume higher before the July 27 deadline.
