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

Beeple’s first solo museum show premieres in China

Artist Mike Winklemann, better known as Beeple, premiered his first-ever solo museum show on November 14 at the Deji Art Museum in Nanjing, China. The exhibition, “Tales from a Synthetic Culture,” features highlights from Beeple’s “Everydays” collection, his video sculptures “Human One” and “S.2122,” and a new piece created specifically for this event.

Doodles partners with McDonalds for holiday-themed collectible cups

Rumors swirled on X earlier this week, sparking a frenzy with web3 community members dissecting every clue. Their verdict? Doodles, the digital art and entertainment brand built upon Burnt Toast’s playful designs and music legend Pharrell Williams’ creative direction, was teaming up with McDonalds. By November 14, their suspicions proved correct. A Doodles rep confirmed the collaboration to OpenSea, and the announcement followed soon after. 

Starting November 18, customers at participating McDonald’s locations across the U.S. can purchase a McCafe coffee in a Doodles-themed holiday cup to unlock exclusive digital collectibles. Through the McDonalds app, customers can access fun digital character accessories and wearables redeemable on the Doodles Stoodio platform.

The partnership also features limited-edition merch and a holiday musical track, “Good Mornin’,” by artist Marley Bleu, produced by Williams. Inspired by the “GM” memes seen circulating between web3 builders and fans on X, the song is expected to launch with a music video in December.

Animoca Brands raises $10M for Mocaverse

Blockchain gaming venture studio Animoca Brands has secured $10 million in funding to accelerate Mocaverse, its open metaverse platform. The funding round included contributions from investors such as CMCC Global and Kingsway Capital, with the goal of expanding features like the Moca ID identity system and building more interoperability infrastructure.

Animoca plans to use Mocaverse to connect its ecosystem of over 450 web3 brands to prioritize seamless transfers between digital environments and a continued focus on community-driven online experiences.

Calaxy announces new ‘Worlds’ platform

Calaxy, the decentralized social app co-founded by entrepreneur Solo Ceesay and Dallas Mavericks point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, has launched Worlds, a no-code platform enabling users to create their own mini decentralized apps (dApps) for communities, organizations, and friend groups. 

According to the press release, Calaxy’s infrastructure lets users design personalized apps accessible via unique URLs that preserve user data within the group. Early adopters like the martial arts game Karate Combat and STEPN, a move-to-earn lifestyle app, are using Worlds to engage their communities with features like loyalty programs and customized experiences. 

Ethereum researcher Justin Drake proposes Beam Chain as ‘Ethereum 3.0’ upgrade at Devcon SEA

Ethereum researcher Justin Drake unveiled Beam Chain, a proposed consensus layer for Ethereum, at the Devcon SEA Conference in Bangkok. Beam Chain uses zero-knowledge SNARKs, a type of cryptographic tool that can prove certain data without revealing it, simplify node verification, and improve scalability.

Drake highlighted zero-knowledge technology as a scalable and cost-effective solution, suggesting that Ethereum adopt planned upgrades every few years as part of its long-term evolution. 

The proposal marked Ethereum’s first major suggested upgrade since The Merge, a two-part overhaul that transitioned Ethereum from proof-of-work consensus to proof-of-stake.

PayPal USD expands crypto reach to connect across Ethereum and Solana

‍PayPal has integrated LayerZero, a blockchain interoperability protocol, to enable seamless transfers of its stablecoin PayPal USD (PYUSD) between the Ethereum and Solana blockchains.

The integration allows users to transact with PYUSD on both chains without relying on bridges, thereby reducing friction and improving security. It also marks a significant step in PayPal’s push into web3 by making PYUSD a more versatile currency for cross-chain payments.

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