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The blue-chip Non-Fungible Token (NFT) Project Pudgy Penguins has signed a representation agreement with major Hollywood talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME).
According to a May 5 Twitter announcement, Pudgy Penguins is looking to extend its intellectual property to films, television and games.
We’re proud to announce that @WME will be representing us as our official talent agency.
Together, with WME’s relationships in film, TV, and gaming, we will focus on strategic partnerships that help Pudgy Penguins reach new audiences. pic.twitter.com/TtbkLexxAV
— Pudgy Penguins (@pudgypenguins) May 5, 2023
Pudgy Penguins joins a growing list of high-profile NFT projects looking for deals with Hollywood dealerships to expand their brands and audiences. Other WME clients associated with NFT are Dapper Labs co-founder Mac Flavel, the Boss Beauties project, NFT artist FEWOCiOUS, and artist Claire Silver.
According to CryptoSlam, Pudgy Penguins is the twenty-first best-selling NFT project of all time. Since launching in July 2021, it has generated $250.2 million in total aftermarket sales.
Last month, the project was acquired by Luka Netz of Netz Capital for 750 Ether (ETH), which was worth about $2.5 million at the time of purchase on April 3rd.
Pudgy Penguins is slowly developing the Web3 ecosystem and the community surrounding the project and has already taken some steps to make intellectual property popular.
At the end of March, the project soft-launched physical Pooja penguin figurines that come with certificates of authenticity and proof of ownership registered on Ethereum.
Soft launched in a couple of specialty retail chains internationally this week. Slowly and then all at once. Pudgy season is coming… https://t.co/hMbUnscxzo
— Luca Netz (@LucaNetz) March 31, 2023
Bitblox will create Web3 gambling
A new blockchain gaming studio called Bitblox has launched the development of a Web3 gambling suite on the Hxro network powered by Solana, a distributed liquidity layer for derivatives trading and betting applications.
According to Grand View Research, the online gambling industry was valued at approximately $63.5 billion in 2022 and is estimated to grow at 11.7% annually from 2023 to 2030.
In a May 4 announcement, Bitblox Games said it would focus on developing player-to-player (P2P) games based on skill and speed, in which players bet against each other rather than in “houses” such as casinos or bookmakers. gamble.
“Blockchain-based games provide additional transparency to gaming operators by giving players the ability to wager in new and exciting ways,” said Brandt Page, CEO of Bitblox.
OG degens cryptocurrency degens
Bitblox Games has launched a studio to bring cryptocurrency gaming to the $67.9B online gambling industry, with all games being built exclusively on Hxro Network’s core protocols.
Welcome to #HxroNation ✖️✖️
Learn more: https://t.co/ylM0hvlHeB pic.twitter.com/xVQ2SI3pmh
— Hxro (✖️,✖️) (@HxroNetwork) May 4, 2023
Specific games have yet to be announced, however more information is likely to come later this month as Bitblox is set to debut at the CasinoBeats Summit 2023 in Malta from May 23-25.
Related: New Frontier for Collectibles: NFT Music History Preservation with Legends of Rock
Generative art via Unreal Engine
NFT infrastructure and ecosystem developer Palm NFT Studio has launched a new tool through Epic Games’ Unreal Engine that allows creators to create generative “game-ready” 3D assets and art collections.
The tool is called “Palm Generative Art Maker” and provides people with a streamlined process for creating generative art and resources, which is usually quite difficult for creators who are not very good at programming.
The end of one world, the beginning of another ❍ mapping the contours of generative art after AI.
→ https://t.co/aJr7Wg746l pic.twitter.com/HR71VpUKTA
— Palm NFT Studio (@PalmNft) May 5, 2023
The tool was launched on May 4 and is available for download as an Unreal Engine plugin.
This allows users to develop a concept in a plugin and then port the assets to Unreal Engine 5.1 for fine tuning and adding finishing details. From there, they can mint assets in the form of NFTs on the blockchain.
Interest in generative art has skyrocketed along with the growth of the NFT sector over the last couple of years, and profile/avatar based projects like CryptoPunks are helping to popularize the technique. While NFT art projects such as Tyler Hobb’s Fidenza also sparked interest in the computer art style.
Star Wars digital toys on Flow
NFT startup Cryptoys has announced the upcoming launch of Star Wars digital collectibles on the Flow blockchain, home to major NFT projects like NBA Top Shot.
The NFT collectibles, or “digital toys,” will arrive on May 24, and will feature similar designs to the Funko Pop figurines. Each token will be priced at $39.99 each in a random blind box, with the purchaser not knowing which character they received until the point of purchase.
Characters such as Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia will be featured in the NFT, and they will come in varying rarity levels ranging from Common to Rare, Legendary, Grail, and Ultra Grail.
new pfp, who sith? #StarWarsDay pic.twitter.com/AzDrB2clp1
— Cryptoys ⚡️ (@Cryptoys) May 4, 2023
Other great news
Kenyan lawmakers are considering imposing a 3% tax on cryptocurrency and NFT transfers and a 15% tax on monetized online content, according to a new bill introduced on May 4.
The former OpenSea manager who was accused of insider NFT trading was found guilty on May 3 of wire fraud and money laundering in New York federal court.
