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

Pengu Passport launches Asia events for 2026

PENGU Asia, the regional community hub for Pudgy Penguins, said it will run in-person events in Asia in 2026 and give attendees a physical Pengu Passport, a booklet used to collect stamps at each event.

According to the post, anyone can also mint a collectible soulbound token commemorating the events, with specific tokens exclusively available for Pudgy Penguins and Lil Pudgys holders.

This update comes as Pudgy Penguins content reaches a mass audience. It was reported this week that content from the NFT brand now generates about 1 billion daily views on animated meme website GIPHY, and more than 300 billion views overall, putting it ahead of Disney and Pokemon on that platform.

Axie Infinity details new bAXS token distribution

The monster-battler game Axie Infinity will distribute a new token called bAXS to eligible players and holders via an airdrop.

The airdrop will reportedly include 100,000 bAXS and go to wallets that have staked at least 10 AXS, with total allocations based on staked amounts and in-game activity.

The bAXS tokens will be used inside the game for actions like breeding and upgrading characters and will also be distributed to players of Terrariums, an upcoming land-based game mode where Axies complete activities and earn rewards.

Vitalik Buterin reframes how Ethereum’s L2 networks should be understood

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said this week that it is time to be clearer about how layer-two networks fit into Ethereum and what role they actually play. 

Layer-two networks, often called L2s, are separate systems that take some of the traffic off Ethereum, do the work elsewhere, and then write the results back, kind of like using side roads so the main highway does not get jammed. 

Buterin’s point was that L2s are built in different ways and should be talked about more precisely, especially when it comes to how much control is spread across many participants, or how decentralized they are.

While Buterin sees L2s as a vital pillar of the Ethereum ecosystem, he said the Ethereum blockchain is itself improving, so developers may not need to rely as heavily on L2s as a means of scaling. 

Fidelity launches its first stablecoin for everyday and institutional use

Fidelity Investments this week launched its first stablecoin, Fidelity Digital Dollar, or FIDD, making it available to both retail and institutional investors across its platforms.

The launch follows new U.S. rules under the GENIUS Act, which clarified how stablecoins can operate, giving large financial firms more confidence to enter the space and signaling that blockchain-based dollars are becoming part of mainstream finance.

Prediction market companies stage free grocery giveaways in New York City

Prediction market companies Kalshi and Polymarket both organized short-term free grocery distributions in New York City this week, reportedly taking two different approaches.

Kalshi hosted a limited time giveaway at an East Village grocery store, while Polymarket announced a separate, multi day free grocery pop up scheduled for later in February.

Polymarket also confirmed a $1 million donation to Food Bank for New York City in connection with its initiative.

Moonbirds avatars go live inside Otherside game

The Moonbirds NFT project said players can now use their collectibles as playable characters inside Otherside, according to a recent post on X. 

The update allows both nested Moonbirds, meaning tokens that are locked for long term holding, and untested Moonbirds, which are not locked, to appear as three-dimensional avatars in the game.

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