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

Jules launches Birds collection examining human-nature connection

Los Angeles artist Jules and engineer mungi released “Birds” on May 1. The collection features videos of small birds perched on branches and wires alongside colorful skies and landscapes, with each image deliberately run through custom equipment that separates and shifts the appearance to create luminous tints across the scene.

Since entering the NFT space in 2021, Jules has built his reputation on his explorations of the natural world through expressive photographs he creatively distorts and sometimes programs to change based on real-world data, using his camera and computer code as a merged creative toolset. 

The collaboration marks his first major partnership, and the two artists debuted the work live during a Los Angeles livestream that allowed viewers to watch the release happen in real time.

MoonPay moves into high-speed trading with DFlow acquisition

Crypto payments company MoonPay has acquired DFlow, a Solana trading platform that processes roughly 10 million transactions every month and handled more than $50 billion in trading volume since April 2025, according to a May 5 press release.

DFlow's main innovation is that it recalculates the best trading route while transactions are happening on the network instead of before. It was built to catch price changes in real time and complete more trades successfully at better prices. 

The platform also designed a system that converts Kalshi's prediction markets into tradable tokens on Solana, which lets applications embed betting markets directly into their products for the first time. MoonPay now lets AI agents execute trades automatically through its developer tools, with operators setting safety limits on how much can be traded. 

This is MoonPay's third major acquisition since January as the company expands beyond processing payments into trading and AI-powered finance.

Solana Foundation and Google Cloud launch Pay.sh for AI agent payments

The Solana Foundation and Google Cloud on May 5 released Pay.sh, a service that lets AI agents access and pay for software interfaces known as APIs using stablecoins.

The service works by linking a Solana wallet to an AI tool that browses an API marketplace and pays for their use directly from their crypto balance. 

Popular Google Cloud APIs including Gemini, BigQuery, Vertex AI, and Cloud Run are available at launch. The marketplace also offers access to over 50 additional APIs that span use cases like ecommerce, market data, communications, and on-chain infrastructure.

Pay.sh is built on open payment standards x402 and MPP, which enable it to work with AI agents. Payments settle in stablecoins on the Solana blockchain but reconcile to providers in fiat, the most common type of currency used between businesses.

Please Respond (01) by Tyler Hobbs sells out 

Tyler Hobbs released an artwork on May 6, as the first piece in a 10-artist chain where each creator receives the previous artist's code and makes their own work within 10 consecutive days. 

Hobbs set three guidelines for the chain: create work you love, reuse or build on elements from the piece before yours, and move the ideas forward in a way that makes sense. The nine other artists, including fingacode, Mathias Isaksen, and Juan Pedro Vallejo, will each inherit code and create a new work before passing it to the next person in the sequence. 

Over the coming days, collectors can watch as each artist transforms the inherited code into something entirely their own.

Western Union launches Solana stablecoin for round-the-clock payments

Western Union is rolling out a new digital dollar called USDPT on the Solana blockchain, allowing the money transfer company to move cash between its agents and partners any time of day or night instead of waiting for banks to open.

The stablecoin is issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, the first federally chartered crypto bank in the U.S., which means it's fully backed by fiat dollars held in reserve.

According to the press release, the company plans to launch a consumer service later this year in more than 40 countries so regular customers can spend the digital dollars directly. 

Western Union's CEO says the stablecoin marks a major shift toward making the company a fully digital payment platform while keeping the regulatory safeguards people trust.

Animoca Brands pledges $10M to developers building AI agents

Animoca Brands on May 5 announced a $10 million investment fund for developers building applications on Minds by Animoca Brands, the company's persistent AI agent platform that keeps agents running 24/7 without requiring users to manage servers or hardware. 

The funding commitment signals Animoca's serious belief in autonomous AI agents as a major computing paradigm and offers capital alongside technical support and access to the company's network of over 600 web3 companies. 

Selected projects must demonstrate a clear product strategy and execution capability, with the money available for high-potential teams ready to scale.

Consensus 2026 pushes crypto regulation into concrete discussions

The Consensus 2026 conference wrapped up in Miami after three days of industry leaders, regulators, and entrepreneurs discussing the future of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence. 

Panels and talks frequently centered around the CLARITY Act as a pathway to regulate exchanges and a bipartisan PARITY Act for taxes.

Eric Trump participated in a standing-room-only main stage discussion with Asher Genoot and moderated by Consensus chairman Michael Lau about artificial intelligence and digital assets. 

CoinDesk managing editor Steve Alpher moderated a panel on tokenized equities with Nick Ducoff of Solana, Xiao-Xiao Zhu of Jupiter Exchange, and Pablo Penaloza of T7X exploring how blockchain networks could enable trading around the clock, unlike traditional stock markets that close at the end of each business day. 

Industry leaders and lawmakers also talked about potential laws to make clear rules for how cryptocurrency companies should operate and how taxes should work on digital transactions.

Meanwhile, Pudgy Penguins and OpenSea hosted a private party called "Deep Dive" at a Miami aquarium, complete with immersive art installations and oversized penguin mascots. The event included a "Hall of Penguins" section that recognized some of Pudgy’s most active community members.

Canada launches first regulated stablecoin

Canada's first regulated stablecoin called $CADD officially launched on Monday, backed by major Canadian companies including National Bank of Canada and Shopify.

Issued by Tetra, the new digital currency is designed to maintain a consistent value equal to the Canadian dollar and run on blockchain, which allows people and businesses to conduct transactions around the clock.

The stablecoin operates on multiple networks including Base, Ethereum and Tempo, with plans to add Solana, and the company will reportedly conduct monthly audits plus random unannounced checks to verify that every unit of currency has Canadian dollars held in reserve backing it. 

While Canada's Stablecoin Act passed two months ago to define the country’s stablecoin framework, federal rules regarding stablecoins won't take effect until 2027. That means $CADD is operating under Alberta's financial services oversight until then.

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or trading advice. References to specific projects, products, services, or tokens do not constitute an endorsement, sponsorship, or recommendation by OpenSea. OpenSea does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information presented, and readers should independently verify any claims made herein before acting on them. Readers are solely responsible for conducting their own due diligence before making any decisions.‍