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

Jack Butcher Debuts Opepen-Themed 'Oviators' Sunglasses

In the latest fusion of fashion and digital art, Florentine eyewear designer Salvino Armati and Checks creator Jack Butcher teamed up to launch Oviators, an eyewear collection with a nod to Butcher’s famed Opepen collection.

The eyewear line debuted during Miami Art Basel, at an exhibition space in Miami’s iconic Wynwood neighborhood.

Each pair of Oviators — black, frameless lenses designed in the shape of the now-recognizable Opepepen silhouette — is redeemable through the purchase of a special-edition NFT. 

The limited edition Oviator NFTs dropped on December 8th and were available to mint for 72 hours at a price of 0.11 ETH. Redemptions for the physical sunglasses are said to begin in Q1 2024.

Decrypt Media and Rug Radio Join Forces

Big news: Crypto-native news and entertainment company Decrypt Media and Rug Radio, the world’s first decentralized social media-catalyzed audio community, are merging. 

The partnership will combine Decrypt’s journalistic prowess with Rug Radio’s innovative methodology, giving the former news organization access to what it describes as Rug Radio’s “proprietary suite of videocasting tools.”

The resulting entity will be “codenamed” [REDACTED]. The parties announced plans to "foster a community-centric media ecosystem to benefit all parties, from investors and advertisers to consumers and creators."

Together, [REDACTED] expects to reach a listenership of over 10 million people. The merger will go live in January.

Pudgy Penguins Announces Pudgy World Alpha, Powered by zkSync

The innovative and adorable Pudgy Penguins are at it again. On December 9th, the web3-native brand announced the launch of Pudgy World, a new gaming concept, with the debut of a fun, animated trailer at Miami Art Basel. 

Set to launch in Q1 2024, the game is powered by zkSync Era, an Ethereum scaling solution that went live in March 2023 to help make blockchain experiences run faster and more securely. In the game, players will be able to customize their Pudgy Penguin characters, explore Pudgy World, and set out on narrative adventures. 

Pudgy World’s release comes on the heels of an exciting year for the brand’s intellectual property (IP). Having recently launched physical toys and collectibles on Amazon and in Walmart and Hot Topic — not to mention the recent Nouns DAO x Pudgy Penguin figurine — the Pudgy Penguin name continues to make waves in both web3 and traditional retail.

Flipkart Partners with Polygon to Launch L2

India is about to experience a new wave of web3 enthusiasm. The country’s e-commerce giant, Flipkart, has teamed up with Polygon to launch a new Ethereum-based Layer 2 (L2), signaling significant advancement of the web3 ecosystem in the region. 

Described by the web3 media company Overpriced JPEGs as the “Amazon of India,” Flipkart has over 350 million users. The company itself is worth about $38 billion, with investors like Walmart and Ubisoft. 

Earlier this year, in June, Flipkart and Polygon announced an upgraded web3 loyalty program, FireDrops 2.0, which was designed to reward users with NFTs for completing quests, thereby gamifying brand loyalty and enhancing the customer experience for Flipkart’s millions of users. 

Since testing began in September, FireDrops has attracted over 3.5 million users, demonstrating a hunger for revamped customer engagement that many web3 enthusiasts agree is obvious. 

Some industry professionals believe the Flipkart x Polygon collab (and its resulting L2) has the power to attract leading fintech entrepreneurs and builders to the space who will move the needle forward on mass adoption and online loyalty models.

Immutable Joins Forces with Merit Circle DAO

Leading web3 gaming studio Immutable just announced a strategic partnership with Merit Circle DAO, the leading decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) focused on web3 gaming.

The collaboration aims to use Immutable’s technology in combination with the open-source blockchain Beam and the digital marketplace Sphere — both part of the Merit Circle DAO network. Beam will launch on Immutable’s zkEVM scaling solution, which is powered by Polygon.

The DAO will also take advantage of Immutable’s in-house creator tools. Meanwhile, with the DAO’s extensive treasury and network of affiliated individuals, synergistic opportunities open up for both parties to foster new growth and innovation.

Notably, a major focus of the partnership will be enabling greater liquidity from the sale of in-game digital items.

PaperclipLabs Announces Nounswap

A new tool by web3-native developer firm PaperclipLabs has emerged, and it’s a game changer for Nouns holders.

Dubbed “Nounswap,” the tool allows Nouns NFT holders to exchange their Noun with one from the Nouns treasury. 

It works like this: Holders simply connect their wallets, browse, and select their new preferred Noun based on available options or specific traits. Once a user initiates a “Swap Prop” for their chosen Noun, the tool makes an automated proposal to be approved by the DAO. 

For now, exchanges are free. As one Noun holder put it, “it’s a pure and simple value-add for any community member looking for their ‘forever Noun.’”

Sotheby's Hosts First Bitcoin Ordinals Sale

In an unprecedented move, the digital branch of Sotheby’s auction house auctioned off its first Bitcoin Ordinals from the pioneering ordinals collection, Bitcoin Shrooms. 

Created by the anonymous artist, Shroomtoshi, the 222-item Bitcoin Shrooms collection originally minted in October. This week’s auction ran from December 6 to 13 and according to a Tweet by Sotheby’s head of digital art, Michael Bouhanna, fetched an impressive $450,000 USD. 

Sotheby’s landmark event signals a growing interest in Bitcoin Ordinals and continues to pave the way for digital art.

OpenSea Streams Battleplan by Pixel Vault

On December 11, over 7,900 gaming enthusiasts watched the OpenSea team stream a 17-minute-long demo of Battleplan! with game creator Pixel Vault and the internet’s favorite web3 gaming creator, Brycent. 

Check it out here: