ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, automotive giant Ford and Toyota applied for a total of 43 blockchain-related patents in the second quarter of this year. Among them, Ford's patent applications increased from 3 in the first quarter to 14 in the second quarter, while Toyota's applications rose from 25 in the first quarter to 29 in the second quarter. The patents include introducing smart contracts into vehicle management, establishing blockchain systems for managing vehicle NFTs, and more.

ChainCatcher news, Toyota Blockchain Lab published a blog post stating that it is researching how to introduce mobility into public blockchains. Exploring the construction of "MOA" (Mobility-Oriented Account) based on the account abstraction standard ERC-4337 in the Ethereum ecosystem.MOA account abstraction separates the authentication process from key management, ensuring that even if the private key is lost, the account itself can be retained. This makes account management more secure and flexible. By preserving a state available for external reference, information related to vehicles (such as usage history and maintenance records) can be managed more transparently and efficiently.In addition, MOA allows operations to be executed with the approval of multiple entities (rather than a single entity). This enables various stakeholders, including vehicle users, owners, manufacturers, dealers, and regulatory agencies, to participate in the approval process for vehicle-related transactions.It is reported that the Toyota Blockchain Lab is an organization established within the Toyota Group in 2019, aimed at promoting the use of blockchain. Initially focused on corporate projects related to material and information traceability, its activities have recently expanded to include public chain-related topics such as web3 and innovative finance.

ChainCatcher message, the NFT project Pudgy Penguins posted on the X platform stating that Pudgy Toys are now available at GameStop.

ChainCatcher news, NFT project Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Netz announced in a video that Pudgy Penguin plush toys have sold over 1 million units and revealed upcoming collaborations with other retailers, including orders from Walmart, Target, Smiths, Hot Topic, and more.Netz stated that this is his most successful consumer products project to date, achieving success among some of the largest retailers globally compared to other NFT projects.Additionally, the project plans to launch Pudgy World alpha on the zkSync Era blockchain this year.

ChainCatcher news, the NFT project "Fat Penguin" Pudgy Penguins announced on social media that Pudgy Toys featuring Pudgy World are now available at Target.It is reported that the toys in Target include community Penguins, which have been fully licensed using the NFT licensing platform OverpassIP.

According to ChainCatcher news, Render Network has announced a partnership with GPU computing company OTOY, open-source generative AI model company Stability AI, and media and entertainment company Endeavor to develop and standardize intellectual property, production workflows, and infrastructure technologies around emerging AI.This partnership leverages Render's decentralized GPU network to scale AI training and inference capabilities at low cost, helping to achieve the decentralization of open-source, transparent, generative AI technologies and source systems that will soon impact 3D, VFX, and media production workflows.

ChainCatcher news, according to prnewswire, Pudgy Penguins announced an expansion of its partnership with Walmart, adding 1,100 Walmart stores to sell the Pudgy Toys series and launching new Walmart exclusive toys.Pudgy Toys are currently sold in 3,100 Walmart stores across the United States, and the newly launched Walmart exclusive items include 5 Pudgy figurines and 25 Lil Pudgys mystery icehouses, each toy equipped with a QR code that unlocks features and collectibles in Pudgy World, an online open-world game powered by the Layer 2 blockchain zkSync Era, where players can customize their penguin characters, complete quests, and more.

According to ChainCatcher news, the NFT project "Fat Penguin" Pudgy Penguins' merchandise Pudgy Toys is now available in 2,000 Walmart stores across the United States. Walmart will sell 16 different types of Pudgy Toys manufactured by PMI Kids' World, with prices ranging from $2.99 to $11.97.According to the data platform RootData, in May of this year, the company behind Pudgy Penguins raised $9 million in a funding round led by early investor 1kx, with participation from Big Brain Holdings, Kronos Research, DFG, Old Fashion Research, and founders of LayerZero Labs.

ChainCatcher news, carbon-neutral blockchain application Nori announced the completion of a new funding round of $6.25 million, with current investors M13, Toyota Ventures, Placeholder, Cargill, and others leading the round. The new funds will be used to expand the business. It was also announced that Trudeau has been appointed as the new CEO, while Paul Gambill, who served as CEO and co-founder of Nori for the past five years, will remain on the board and take on a new role as Chief Product Officer.According to the crypto data platform Rootdata, Nori has built an end-to-end carbon removal marketplace based on blockchain, dedicated to removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to address climate change. Nori completed a $7 million Series A funding round last March, and to date, Nori's total funding amount has reached $17.25 million. (Source link)

According to ChainCatcher news, the NFT project "Pudgy Penguins" announced on social media that the first community-licensed mass-market product combining NFT and blockchain technology with physical toys, Pudgy Toys, as well as the NFT digital platform Pudgy Worlds, have officially launched.It is reported that Pudgy Toys are priced between $8.99 and $24.99, with shipping scheduled for June 3. Buyers will receive a "birth certificate" to unlock the trait box on Season 1 of Pudgy World, and will obtain soul-bound tokens and NFTs, with all minting processes taking place on the Polygon blockchain. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, the NFT project "Pudgy Penguins" announced plans to release "Pudgy Toys" on May 18.The Pudgy Penguins toy series first debuted this February, promoting its IP's "outreach" beyond the Web3 industry through a partnership with Retail Monster, which has experience representing major brands like Disney, DreamWorks, and Hasbro. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, the decentralized sports prediction market Frontrunner developed based on Injective has completed a $4.75 million seed round financing, led by Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, with participation from SOMA Capital, Toy Ventures, Ledger Prime, and WAGMI Ventures. (source link)