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  • 2/13/25: The Future Of OpenSea Is Here ⛵️💰🖼️

2/13/25: The Future Of OpenSea Is Here ⛵️💰🖼️

Today’s issue is brought to you by Safe — the world’s leading smart account provider on EVM, securing $100B+ in assets (including Vitalik’s).

Top News

  1. OpenSea launches OS2 beta and confirms $SEA token

  2. Ethereum Foundation deploys 45,000 ETH into Aave and Spark

  3. Sam Spratt’s ‘X. Masquerade’ NFT sells for $3,000,000

Specs’ Insights

1. OpenSea launches OS2 beta and confirms $SEA token

⌐◪-◪ → The OpenSea airdrop is real!

OpenSea just announced OS2 beta and its upcoming $SEA token, marking a major shift for the NFT giant.

OS2 is a brand-new OpenSea, rebuilt from the ground up to cater to both NFTs and tokens in one place—a one-stop shop for web3 assets.

They’re also undoing some of their most controversial policies like locked items, delisted collections, and unnecessary that didn’t make sense for web3 (ex. Tornado Cash users).

As for $SEA, they confirmed that historical OpenSea usage will be a key factor in determining airdrop eligibility—so longtime users rejoice.

And in a major win for U.S. users, OpenSea confirmed they will be included in the airdrop, despite earlier rumors saying otherwise. (I’d bet that wasn’t always the plan, but hey, community pressure works.)

Feels like OpenSea is finally listening to the people again.

The real question: Can they make $SEA sustainable, or will it be just another airdrop-and-dump?

On the bright side, they’ve been here longer than most, seen what works (and what doesn’t), and might actually get it right.

2. Ethereum Foundation deploys 45,000 ETH into Aave and Spark

⌐◪-◪ → The Ethereum Foundation is getting active!

The Ethereum Foundation just deployed 45,000 ETH across DeFi protocols—including Spark, Aave Prime, Aave Core, and Compound—marking a historic first step into the app layer.

Instead of selling ETH to fund operations, the Foundation is putting it to work, earning yield on its holdings—a strategy many in the community have long pushed for. Aave received the biggest allocation (30,800 ETH), which makes sense as Aave actually has the liquidity to handle size (e.g., borrowing $1B in stablecoins).

This is a major shift—showing Ethereum is betting on DeFi rather than just holding ETH passively. A big win for Ethereum and DeFi, reinforcing that the ecosystem is here to stay.

Meanwhile, our supreme leader Vitalik is cracking communism jokes—and the crowd isn’t vibing. High IQ humor only. 🤣

3. Sam Spratt’s ‘X. Masquerade’ NFT sells for $3,000,000

⌐◪-◪ → NFTs are dead—NOT!

Artist Sam Spratt just sold 'X.Masquerade, Chapter 6' to Kanbas for $3,000,000 USD, proving once again that high-end digital art is thriving.

This piece, showcased at the Monument Game exhibition in Venice, captures a chaotic yet mesmerizing forest scene, symbolizing connection and chaos.

Spratt’s journey from commercial art to fine art has been praised for its emotional and technical depth—his work is pushing the boundaries of digital storytelling.

This sale isn’t just a win for Spratt—it’s a reminder that the NFT market is far from dead, despite what Rolling Stone and TradArt gatekeepers want you to believe. I guess our NFTs aren’t so worthless after all.

NFTs are here to stay.

Everything Els

⛓️ Crypto & DeFi

🏦 Wall Street & VC

  • Riot Platforms announces new board to push AI pivot

  • Cboe BZX files for staking in Ethereum ETF

  • Robinhood crypto revenue soars 700% in Q4

  • Robinhood sees 400% crypto trading volume surge in Q4

  • Coinbase Q4 results coming Thursday

  • KULR adds more Bitcoin to treasury

  • VanEck sees state Bitcoin reserve bills driving $23B in buying

  • Franklin Templeton extends FOBXX fund to Solana

  • Goldman Sachs Bitcoin ETF ownership is less than meets the eye

  • Mastercard tokenized 30% of its transactions in 2024

  • JPMorgan says Tether may need to dump its BTC holdings

🏛️ Legal & Regulatory

  • Trump finalizes crypto regulation team

  • Musk lawsuit with Trump over Jan 6 suspensions for $10M

  • Jonathan Gould picked by Trump to lead OCC, strong Bitcoin ties

  • US SEC and CFTC to restart joint advisory committee on crypto

  • New York senator pushes for crypto task force

  • Alexander Vinnik swapped in Trump’s prisoner exchange deal

  • Adam Back wants CBDCs dead

🌎 Rest Of The World

🖼️ NFTs & Metaverse

  • B3 Token jumps to new high after airdrop

  • Neurotech Startup plans Solana token airdrop for brainwaves

  • Audius launches Solana token airdrop for artists

  • Coinbase lists POPCAT and PENGU on Solana network

  • CZ teases dog picture memecoin, revealed at 8PM Dubai time

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