Media News & Articles

KOR Foundation is partnering with Animoca Brand's subsidiary, Pixelynx, to launch KOR Protocol, a platform reshaping intellectual property management across multiple sectors.

The Deets

• Innovative Framework: KOR DNA integrates blockchain and AI to evolve IP into music, video, gaming, and more.
• Launch Partners: Includes Animoca Brands, Pixelynx, Beatport, and more.
• User Engagement: Supports UGC, AI Remixes, and interactive formats.
• IP Management: Encodes, tracks, and manages IP with enhanced security and transparency.

The Bulk

KOR Foundation announced the launch of KOR Protocol, an entertainment protocol designed to revolutionize the management, protection, distribution, and monetization of intellectual property (IP) across various sectors. At the heart of this protocol is the KOR DNA framework, which leverages blockchain and AI to transform IP into diverse media formats, such as music, video, gaming, and beyond. This framework also facilitates  collaboration between creators, developers, and fans.

The protocol has secured partnerships with Animoca Brands, Pixelynx, Beatport, Endlesss, Smile Club (A Black Mirror Experience), Revelator Labs, mau5trap, Volta, Plastikman, Mintangible, and Seven20.

One of the initial applications launched on KOR Protocol is KORUS, a platform that empowers users to create songs, remixes, and music videos using musical content from established artists and labels. KORUS has already amassed over 250,000 registered users, showcasing the potential for widespread user engagement.

KOR Protocol's advanced tools support user-generated content (UGC), AI Remixes, and interactive formats, enabling dynamic user participation and transforming traditional media formats. By utilizing blockchain technology, KOR Protocol introduces transparent and efficient IP licensing models that streamline transactions and royalty distributions, with key integrations from Revelator Labs and the Beatport suite of products.

🎤 Founder Feedback

For more web3 and NFT news, visit the Lucky Trader newsfeed.

Doodles is teaming up with Pharrell Williams for "Project Gray," blending animation, music, and NFTs animated special. 

The Deets

• Animated Special: A first for Doodles, featuring voice work from Lil Wayne and Coi Leray.
• Original Soundtrack: Accompanied by three music videos from Doodles Records, spotlighting major artists.
• OG Focus: Centering on original Doodles holders, enhancing their digital collecting experience.

The Bulk

Doodles is venturing into uncharted territory with a collaboration that's all set to redefine the boundaries of animation, music, and digital collectibles. "Project Gray," in partnership with Pharrell Williams, promises a storytelling revolution, combining an animated special with a Doodles Records original soundtrack and three music videos featuring Lil Wayne and Coi Leray.

This project is a comprehensive campaign that marries Doodles' distinctive style with a more sophisticated and cinematic approach. The initiative aims to provide a platform for immersive storytelling through various mediums - film, music, live events, partnerships, and exclusive merchandise, all while ensuring that the original Doodles community remains at the forefront of this pioneering journey.

📊 By the Numbers

Despite the news and the commentary regarding the focus on OGs, Doodles NFTs were down 6.5% on the day to 1.57 ETH.

🔜 What's Next?

Doodles will work on an early summer rollout of "Project Gray," culminating in a grand premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. 

For more web3 and NFT news, visit the Lucky Trader newsfeed.

Michael Saylor addressed the ongoing NFT craze on Bitcoin in an interview this morning with Patrick-Bet David on Episode 267 of the PBD Podcast.

Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy, @saylor, on the impact of Ordinals on Bitcoin mining and the power of inscriptions.

“What happened with Ordinals and NFTs is we crossed this chasm from what was a bearish scenario to a bullish scenario. If I was a miner I would be ecstatic.” pic.twitter.com/UDIGN5C08I

— Leonidas.og (@LeonidasNFT) May 9, 2023

🎤 Quotes from Saylor

• "There are a lot of implications...Long-term, the implication is there's going to be a lot of applications on the Bitcoin base layer."
• "I could also inscribe my last will and testament, and if my last will and testament is moving a billion dollars from me to you, how much is it worth to you to have that burned on the blockchain and cryptographically verified?"
• "This is the most valuable, most tamper-proof, immutable, secure transaction network in the world. I think the real significance of Ordinals, NFTs, and inscriptions is people used to take the transactions for granted, and they undervalued the Bitcoin mining network."
• "Long-term, what's really significant here is that people are going to see Bitcoin as the most secure cyber network or the most secure computer network in the world. And if I told you I'm going to burn a document and I want it to stay immutable for 100 years and I don't want any hostile corporation or nation-state or actor to be able to tamper with it or stop it, and in 100 years I want to prove that that's my document...You know Satoshi could sign a digital document, he could sign a message today and prove that he owns 30 billion dollars of Bitcoin and he could do it in a split second. That's the power of the Bitcoin network, and that has been underrealized, it's underestimated...[...] but ultimately the ethically sound, technically sound, economically sound future is for people to realize that Bitcoin is this immutable, incorruptible, non-sovereign computer network, and it's going to protect your money but it's also going to protect your integrity, and people are going to pay money for truth on that network."

🎤 Community Quotes

🧠 Learn More

• Memecoins Meet Bitcoin? (May 8, 2023)
• LT Ecosystem Guide - Bitcoin NFTs | What You Should Know (February 13, 2023)

The company behind the popular Pokémon franchise, The Pokémon Company, is currently looking to hire someone to bring "deep knowledge" in web3, NFTs, and the metaverse according to a new job posted on LinkedIn.

The Deets

Although the job title "Corporate Development Principal" may not initially sound like it is focused on web3, a closer look at the "What You'll Bring" section reveals two key bullet points that indicate a focus on this area:

• "Deep knowledge and understanding of Web 3, including blockchain technologies and NFT, and/or metaverse."
• "Deeply connected to a network of investors and entrepreneurs in the technology sectors above (Web3 and metaverse)."

❗Why It Matters

The Pokémon Company is a massive company with some of the most recognizable and successful IP of all time. One such example is Pokemon Go, which was launched in 2016, still boasts around 9 million daily active users, according to activeplayer.io. Pokemon's entrance into the space would be the most ever anticipated event, but while excitement from the web3 demographic may be warranted, it's important to note the job posting only includes minor mentions of web3 and NFTs. Some in the community, like Jonah Blake, cautioned that expectations may need to be tempered. 

🎤 Community Quotes

While the Pokemon Company hasn't commented regarding the job listing, there have been mixed feelings from both sides of the community, with some not too happy about the mention of web3.

While others in the Web3 space are pretty excited...

Either way, perhaps it's best to reserve some caution, as Jonah Blake suggested. 

🧠Learn More

• View the Job Posting

Adam Bomb Squad co-creator and The Hundreds co-founder Bobby Kim, aka Bobby Hundreds, has signed with United Talent Agency (UTA) to expand his business and web3 ventures according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter.

🔙 Back It Up

Bobby discovered NFTs in 2020 and created the Adam Bomb Squad project in Aug. 2021 as a way for the Hundreds community to participate in the brand. Buoyed by its ties to streetwear brand The Hundreds, the collection minted out 25,000 NFTs in less than an hour.

❗ Why It Matters

This partnership will help Bobby expand his business across screenwriting, film and television producing, speaking engagements and publishing, "beyond traditional boundaries and defined mediums." This development also follows in the footsteps of the news of PROOF Collective signing with UTA last month. 

🔜 What’s Next?

"Are NFTs truly the future of creativity? Or just a fad? Are they a scam? Maybe they are all those things."

Bobby will dig into these questions in his upcoming book NFTs Are a Scam / NFTs Are the Future, which will be released in May.

Notable jeweler, Jared, applied for trademarks pertaining to virtual goods, digital diamonds, gemstones, and other metaverse goods, according to recent filings.

The Deets

According to the filing, the trademark focus is on virtual items, goods, accessories, and technology, including:

• Downloadable virtual goods
• Online retail store services rendered in a virtual environment

❗Why It Matters

Last week, reports of Amazon's web3 entrance made the headlines. The entrance of Jared adds to the quickly lengthening list of web2 brands looking for a way to innovate with digital goods in web3.

🧠 Learn More

• The Intuit Metaverse?
• Marshawn Lynch in Web3? 

Additionally, Build Your Realm is just Series 1 of this new NFT franchise. Series 2 is coming soon and will launch on OpenSea (instead of Nifty's, where Series 1 launches).

No additional details are yet known regarding Series 2.

Dive Deeper: Here are some more resources for those wanting more information.

• Full project guide from Nifty's
• Nifty's Twitter and official project Twitter
• Launch announcement

The PUNKS Comic team published a blog post this afternoon sharing a variety of updates for their upcoming PUNKS PFP, PUNKS Comic Set 1, and future plans for the project.

Punks PFPs

The PUNKS PFPs are expected to launch in 2023, and they will be a free claim for holders of PUNKS Comic Issues #1-3.

PUNKS Comics

Regarding PUNKS Comic Set 1, there will be 3 additional comics coming in 2023 to complete the set. There will be no charge for those new issues #4-6, and they will only be mintable via a burn mechanic. That burn mechanic will be cumulative, meaning higher total burn counts for each future issue.

Here's how it will work:

• PUNKS Comic Issue #4 can be minted by burning copies of Issue #2 + Issue #3
• PUNKS Comic Issue #5 can be minted by burning copies of Issue #2 + Issue #3 + Issue #4
• PUNKS Comic Issue #6 can be minted by burning copies of Issue #2 + Issue #3 + Issue #4 + Issue #5

Holders of the PixelPass tokens will be airdropped collector's editions of Issues #4-6 without a burn.

This new burn mechanic is quite the change and brings some new game theory into the project. It seems likely that Issue #6 will have the lowest supply, given the cumulative burn - but that is not a guarantee. Issue #2 and Issue #3 should see their supplies reduced fairly substantially as well, being a requirement of each of the burns.

At the time of writing, the PUNKS Comic floor is 0.038 ETH for Issue #3. Issue #2 holds a 0.096 ETH floor, and Issue #1 is at 1.24 ETH.

PUNKS Comic Physicals

The claim for physical comics for Issues #2-6 will not take place until after Issue #6 has been minted. This will allow for the supplies of each Issue to be determined and settled, after the completion of each of the burns.

Holders of the full set of PUNKS Comic NFTs will qualify for a full physical bound copy of the Comic Set 1.

Community Reaction

Early comments and community sentiment seem positive, as it appears that the Punks Comic team is listening and reacting to feedback. The move to free mint via burns is a notable change from the release of Comics #1-3, which were paid mints. Comic #3 especially led to some community outrage over the team charging too much and not delivering enough for the price. 

Yuga Labs released a video trailer for the upcoming "Trial of Jimmy the Monkey" from its @BoredApeYC Twitter account Wednesday evening, while directing users to the MDvMM website for further updates.

Jimmy faces the ultimate trial. Stay tuned to https://t.co/h8JXeLkC57 for what comes next. pic.twitter.com/0QVNxrZbWW

— Bored Ape Yacht Club (@BoredApeYC) December 22, 2022

On the website, there is a timeline of events where only the first one has been revealed: "Prologue: The Trial of Jimmy, December 21." Upcoming events listed on the website include:

• December 28: "The Past, Present, Future"
• January 11: "Prepare for the Mint"
• January 18: "Multi-week Interactive Mint"
• February 8: "Mint Reveal"
• TBA: "The Story Continues"

Today's trailer follows news yesterday from Yuga Labs that "apes who also hold a BAKC will be in tiers of their own" when it comes to the minting experience for the Trial of Jimmy. The Bored Ape Kennel Club collection surged about 40 percent on that news, while today's news has had less of a market impact, with the Bored Ape Yacht Club floor price up just slightly (under 1 percent) over the last 24 hours.