Back to our usual format for #TheAlpha and we have a lot to cover! We go $HAMS for hamster racing while Jack Butcher and Threadguy break crypto Twitter with an Opepen Threadition. Read on for more of the latest in AI & web3!

Positive Affirmation for This Week

If you lean into your unicorn, you will surround yourself by other unicorns and create amazing things together!

This Week in Web3...

🐸 The Opepen Threadition. Collector, advisor, and spaces host ThreadGuy (@notthreadguy) changed his Mutant Ape profile picture for a $2 Open Edition of Opepen, made by Jack Butcher (Opepen’s creator). The Open Edition minted over 50,000 pieces at $2, with all proceeds to ThreadGuy, a huge win for the daily spaces host & content creator.

🌔 Reddit Moons moon. The ERC-20 tokens on Arbitrum Nova that represent the Reddit community points program got a Crypto.com listing and jumped 300% this week. Moons can be used to buy special membership badges on the r/CryptoCurrency subreddit, which provide various benefits like access to exclusive content and features. This week, Reddit changed their terms of service to allow the trading of these coins, which sparked the listing.

🖼 What a week for generative art. Art Blocks launched Prohibition on Arbitrum, allowing anyone to create art on-chain using the ArtBlocks engine. Sotheby’s auctioned their second set of Grails and new collections were released by Artblocks, Tonic.xyz, and Jackson Pollock Studio & Iconic NFT. Next week is Sotheby’s auction with Vera Molnar, the pioneer of computer-based generative art in the 1960’s.

🐹 Crypto goes crazy for betting on hamster races. Hamster.gg is an online betting platform on the BNB blockchain with real hamsters, in real races, where you can bet BUSD. With $HAMS token up 4000x, have we found crypto's latest viral app?

🥳 Web3 x Comic Con. Despite the market slowdown, web3 brands still made an appearance at this year’s Comic Con. Immutable released a playable demo of their highly anticipated MetalCore, an NFT-based, open world combat game. Cool Cats and Pudgy Penguins showcased their growing franchises with booths, and more.

🧠 Chainlink tries to solve interoperability. Chainlink switched on its Cross Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) on Ethereum, Optimism, Polygon and Avalanche. CCIP simplifies sending messages, tokens, assets, and smart contracts across different chains, and has the potential to link up to traditional finance through the Swift Network (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), the backend for financial transfers at banks around the world.

Quick Headlines

• Opensea reveals new Deals feature where you can trade NFTs and/or crypto directly with another user. Goodbye scam swap sites!

• Nouns and Pudgy Penguins will collaborate on a high-end toy collection in December, after a NounsDAO vote.

• A group of investors finalizing deal to acquire crypto media firm Coindesk.

• Neopets cancels their NFT game after raising money from Polygon and Avalanche, instead will focus on making a game that “better reflects our values and vision.”

• Moonbirds Mythics began hatching Friday, with 100 eggs hatching everyday for 200 days. Love the slow release mechanic! I had a great time at PROOF’s new LA space for the launch party.

AI Corner

🍎 Apple looks to challenge OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Apple is reportedly developing its own AI-powered chatbot, tentatively referred to as “Apple GPT”, and based on their own proprietary large language model (LLM). Insiders predict that we’ll see a big AI-related announcement from Apple sometime next year.

👎 It’s not always good news for AI. CNN covered workers whose workload has doubled since the AI boom, and fighting fake online reviews got a lot more complicated. Meanwhile, Google is developing an AI tool to write the news.

Edge of AI Launch Party

Join me and my friends at Edge of AI on Wednesday, August 2, in sunny Venice, CA, and experience the future firsthand.

Explore the rapidly expanding AI universe and join leading AI experts, founders, investors, and researchers, for music, treats, drinks, and exclusive networking opportunities at this unforgettable evening to celebrate the launch of Edge of AI podcast.

Use AlphaFrens code just for my subscribers for 25% off.

They of course appreciate subscribers for their newest voyage! Edge of AI is a great way to stay on top of AI and learn how to put this technology to use: https://edgeofai.xyz/subscribe

This Week We're Bullish On...

David Bianchi (@davidbianchi)

David joined us for my weekly Twitter spaces TheAlpha this week, where we covered the Hollywood Strikes and AI.

Actor, producer, and NFT artist, David Bianchi brought an important perspective on the impacts of the strike and how AI affects TV and film. As a producer, he has completed 6 feature films and is the founder of Exertion Films, a web3 film studio in direct partnership with gaming giant Gala. He’s a huge adovcate for film3, web3’s film production community!

The trailer for his latest film RZR just launched - check it out!

Hope you enjoyed this week's edition of the Alpha newsletter!

We're looking for brands to share with The Alpha. If you’ve got a product or service you think we’d love, let us know!👇

Remember, I'm Bullish on you!

With gratitude,

Shira