Welcome to the OpenSea digest. Let’s look back through the biggest NFT and web3 news of the week.

KOR Protocol launches new AI player that enables web3 projects to use IP-licensed songs

KOR Protocol, a blockchain-based entertainment platform backed by venture studio Animoca Brands, is launching KOR Player. The new tool is an AI music engine that lets web3 projects integrate IP-licensed music and digital items into virtual environments, giving musicians and developers a new way to collaborate. With the player, creators can upload and remix music, while artists can track their on-chain creator earnings.

KOR Protocol’s leading launch partner is Pixelynx, an interactive music ecosystem founded by industry executives and championed by Deadmau5, the Canadian DJ Joel Zimmerman. The protocol powered Netflix’s Black Mirror Experience in February 2024. 

According to a press release shared with OpenSea, KOR Player is now available for developers. Those interested can request early access and technical documents by completing a signup form.

Adidas will launch its first avatar product 

Adidas is doubling down on its web3 ambitions with the upcoming launch of its first avatar product for its roughly 20,000 NFT holders. The new avatar is part of the ongoing storyline for the company’s digital studio, ALTS by adidas. While details have yet to be revealed, excited collectors are already sharing plans to use the avatars, which are rumored to be interoperable, in both web2 and web3 metaverse worlds. 

Snowfro mints the final Chromie Squiggle 

Generative art fans have witnessed the end of an era: On August 21, ArtBlocks founder and digital artist Erick Calderon, known as “Snowfro,” minted the final Chromie Squiggle to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) wallet address. The mint marked the end of a four-year saga for the generative art project that became well-recognized as one of the earliest and most famous collections of NFT art.

LACMA will exhibit Chromie Squiggle #9999 in the upcoming show Digital Witness: Revolutions in Design, Photography, and Film, which opens November 24.

The Forgotten Runiverse "New Foundations" open beta

Calling all decentralized gamers: Players can now participate in the free-to-play open beta launch of The Forgotten Runiverse, a new MMORPG based on the magical fictional world of the Forgotten Runes Wizard Cult, a pixel-art NFT collection built upon the Ethereum blockchain. The beta version is free to play through September 7. Gamers can explore new features like customizable homes, guild battles, and dungeons.  

Otherside Project Dragon releases Episode 2

Otherside, the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) metaverse, returned with Project Dragon: Episode 2 on August 29 at 6 pm E.T. Set in Meetropolis, a virtual city within Otherside, Project Dragon blends elements of MMORPG gameplay with large-scale battles and other action-packed events. 

Episode 2 builds on the success of BAYC’s first playtest, which drew a virtual crowd of over 1,000 participants and two charity poker tournaments. The BAYC team collaborates with the metaverse venture studio Improbable to produce these monthly events.

Liquid Death collab lets users mint on Base via their cans

Crypto platform Coinbase is bringing web3 to the grocery aisle with its new collaboration. For the next six months, water brand Liquid Death will display QR codes on its cans, linking consumers to Coinbase’s layer two blockchain, Base. There, they will be able to shop NFT artwork directly from their phones — all while staying hydrated. 

Summer Wagner’s Midamerican Fever Dream celebrates opening night

American rust belt artist Summer Wagner’s debut solo exhibition, Midamerican Fever Dream, opened in Los Angeles on August 29. Wagner’s work blends digital and traditional art in a narrative, multi-installment collection that explores a family’s struggles in a post-industrial Midwestern landscape.

Prior to the show, Wagner’s work received attention when White Walls, an app that lets users display artwork on their smart TVs, announced a coinciding drop featuring pieces from the Midamerican Fever Dream collection.

Danny Cole launches ‘Creature Cubes’ on Base 

On August 29, Creature World, the immersive art collection by New York City-based artist Danny Cole, dropped a new digital sculpture collection on Base. The collection plays with some fun new mechanics using the ERC-404 token standard. 

As Creature World describes, minting a Creature Cube comes with additional $CUBE tokens and entails some experimental burn mechanics.

Note: Any mention of the $CUBE token is for informational purposes only and does not constitute advice.

STEPN GO creates limited-edition virtual G-SHOCK sneakers 

STEPN, the web3 lifestyle app that incentivizes physical movement, just dropped an exclusive sneaker collab with G-SHOCK’s sports line, G-SQUAD. A limited raffle ran from August 26 to 29 and offered 800 pairs up for grabs.

The virtual kicks were designed with the G-SHOCK colors and shapes in mind. They are similar to products from the iconic timepiece brand, with distinct styles for each level of accomplishment ranging from “walker” to “trainer.”

BAYC and BAPE announce Season 2 of their streetwear collection

What do you get when you pair a bored ape with a bathing ape? A second round of streetwear collaborations. On August 23, BAYC dropped hints that it will once again team up with Japanese streetwear brand A BATHING APE for a September clothing line. If it’s anything like the BAYC x BAPE collab that dropped in September 2023, the limited-edition collection will give first access to BAYC holders before the general public gets a peek.