Decrypt’s Art, Fashion, and Entertainment Hub. Discover SCENEWith crypto markets surging and once-existential regulatory concerns melting away hour by hour under the Trump Administration, industry leaders are tacking hard to aggressive growth strategies unthinkable even months ago.Enter Doodles, one of the struggling NFT sector’s top brands.Under the stewardship of former Billboard executive Julian Holguin, Doodles weathered the yearslong crypto bear market by building out one of the most prominent awareness campaigns in crypto— snagging partnerships with the likes of McDonald’s, Adidas, and pop music sensation Pharrell Williams.But now, the company is changing course, replacing its seasoned top executive with the NFT collection’s original artist, disavowing convoluted corporate tie-ins, and launching its own token.Scott Martin, Doodles’ creator and new CEO, told Decrypt all about his big plans for the company—which involve ending its “extractive” corporate-focused practices and pushing assertively into the ballooning meme coin market.As Martin sees it, Doodles has in recent years struggled to simultaneously please its crypto-native holders and grow as a brand fit for all consumers. The artist has come to dub the tension between these competing goals the “futon effect.”“We're trying to be a bed and a couch,” he said. “And ultimately, it's uncomfortable.”i am stepping in as CEO of doodles we’re moving to a vision with a strong bias for risk, disruption, radical transparency and the authenticity that made us who we are in the first place ideas transform societies. today, the disruptors come in many forms: NFTs rewriting… pic.twitter.com/Mk7G22vTMI — burnt toast (@burnttoast) January 28, 2025Martin points to Doodles’ collaboration in the fall with Rubik’s Cube as a prime example of this failing strategy. Putting Doodles characters on the popular toy? Sure, that’s savvy marketing

OpenSea Foundation announced plans to launch its SEA token, confirming US users will be eligible to participate in the upcoming token distribution.

OpenSea unveils a completely reimagined platform that expands into token trading, with an entirely new interface built from the ground up and a new feature set for both casual collectors and advanced users.OpenSea Foundation announces the $SEA token, designed to support engagement within the NFT ecosystem.MIAMI, Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- OpenSea, the world's first and leading NFT marketplace, today launched OS2, a complete rebuild of its platform with cross-chain token trading. The platform features upgrades to every surface on the marketplace, offering users a faster and more seamless experience for NFTs, and includes new chains, better ways to search and explore, marketplace aggregation, cross-chain purchasing, and lower fees at launch. OS2 is the most significant update in OpenSea's history. Alongside the launch, the OpenSea Foundation, a Cayman Islands-based foundation, has announced $SEA, a new token designed to reward and engage NFT users."This represents an expansion of OpenSea from an NFT marketplace to a much broader platform for trading all types of digital assets. We think tokens and NFTs belong together in a single, powerful, delightful experience," said Devin Finzer, Co-founder and CEO of OpenSea