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Erika Lee

Erika Lee

Erika Lee is a freelance journalist who covers digital art, NFTs, and crypto. She was previously a Senior Editor at NFT Now. She's a University of Southern California alum and has reported for Business Insider, CBS News, Glamour, and more. Disclosure: Erika holds BTC, ETH, SOL, and some NFTs.

Stories by Erika Lee

  • The Pudgy Penguins Valentine's Plush Bouquet. Image: Decrypt/Pudgy Penguins

    Pudgy Penguins Hit New York City With Valentine's Day Pop-Up Event

    The Pudgy Penguins team is helping fans celebrate Valentine’s Day in the real world with Pudgy Petals, a three-day immersive pop-up event in New York City that highlights gifting and connection via its colorful characters. Running February 12-14, the activation invites guests into the love story of Polly and Pengu (aka Pax), core characters in the Pudgy Penguins universe. The team told Decrypt that the brand—which has expanded from NFTs to games, real-world toys, and beyond—is using Valentine’s...

    NewsNFTs
    3 min read
    Erika Lee
  • NFTs. Image: Decrypt/Shutterstock

    Influential NFT Platform Nifty Gateway Set to Shut Down in February

    Update: On January 27, Nifty Gateway announced that it will extend its withdrawal deadline to April 23, giving users 90 days from the original announcement to remove their assets from custodial wallets. Nifty Gateway plans to launch a bulk removal tool, and said that for any assets remaining on the platform after April 23, it "will continue to work with customers to make sure that they are able to move their NFTs to their wallet of choice." Furthermore, Nifty Gateway said that it will "migrate t...

    NewsNFTs
    6 min read
    Erika Lee
  • Ponke and RIPNDIP are teaming up for blind box collectibles with a crypto tie-in. Image: Decrypt/Ponke

    Ponke Meme Coin Brand Teams With RIPNDIP for Blind Box Collectible Drop

    For years, blind box drops in crypto have followed a familiar script: the digital component first, often through marketplaces, and the physical goods secondary. A new collaboration between Solana meme coin brand Ponke and streetwear label RIPNDIP is trying to flip that model by starting not on-chain, but on store shelves first.  The Ponke x RIPNDIP blind-box collectible is a physical product distributed through RIPNDIP’s existing retail and mainstream channels. The blockchain component, built on...

    NewsBusiness
    3 min read
    Erika Lee
  • Meebits. Image: Decrypt/Meebits Company

    Why This Billionaire Collector Continues to Buy NFTs in 2025

    The NFT market has fallen off sharply since the 2021-22 bull run, but at least one billionaire collector is still betting big on the tokenized assets. In one of the largest private NFT deals of the year, businessman and collector Adam Weitsman recently acquired 229 Meebits NFTs in a single over-the-counter transaction, marking the biggest-known purchase from the collection—which was launched by CryptoPunks creator Larva Labs in 2021. Weitsman continues to double down on digital art and culture,...

    NewsNFTs
    5 min read
    Erika Lee
  • AI music. Image: Decrypt

    Record Financial Pushes Real-Time Royalties on Avalanche to Modernize Music Payments

    For years, crypto has tried to break into the music industry.  3LAU’s Royal, Sound.xyz, and Stage have showcased how blockchain could give fans new ways to support artists, collect digital music, and participate in cultural moments.  But despite the early excitement, none of these platforms has managed to reshape the industry’s core infrastructure or reach everyday musicians at scale.  While they were consumer-facing experiments that were successful in their own right, Record Financial is taking...

    NewsTechnology
    3 min read
    Erika Lee
  • Justin Aversano presents "Moments of the Unknown." Image: Justin Aversano

    'Moments of the Unknown': Justin Aversano Shares Globetrotting Love Letter to Humanity

    For his latest project, artist and photographer Justin Aversano (of "Twin Flames" fame) set out with a simple compass: love. Just a camera, intuition, and an unspoken promise to document humanity across all seven continents. The result is “Moments of the Unknown,” a living archive of global intimacy, presented as both an exhibition at Glitch Gallery in Marfa, Texas for Art Blocks Marfa Weekend this month and a documentary screening at the Crowley Theater down the road.  Decrypt sat down with Ave...

    NewsCoins
    5 min read
    Erika Lee
  • Moonbirds. Image: Shutterstock

    Moonbirds Token BIRB to Take Flight on Solana as NFT Comeback Continues

    Recently resurgent Ethereum NFT project Moonbirds has unveiled its next major step: the launch of BIRB, an ecosystem token set to debut on Solana. The plans were announced at the Moonbirds Birbhalla side event alongside Token 2049 in Singapore, where O.G. supporters and new holders gathered. A teaser post on X suggests the token will launch "soon(ish)." The pixelated owl collection has been through multiple hands of ownership since launching in 2022. Originally created by Kevin Rose’s Proof Coll...

    NewsNFTs
    3 min read
    Erika Lee

  • BRC-20 Indexer Upgrade Brings Ethereum-Like Features to Bitcoin

    BRC-20, the first token standard built directly on Bitcoin’s base layer and indexers, has officially launched “BRC2.0” at Bitcoin block height 912690, which took place Monday morning. The upgrade embeds EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) functionality directly into the BRC-20 core indexer, allowing developers to deploy Ethereum-style smart contracts on Bitcoin, without relying on bridges, oracles, or trusted intermediaries. The move enables programmability to Bitcoin-native tokens, effectively turni...

    NewsTechnology
    3 min read
    Erika Lee
  • Moonbirds. Image: Shutterstock

    Moonbirds NFTs Are Soaring Again: What's Behind the Price Surge

    A little over a year ago, Moonbirds was a cautionary tale. The once-hyped Ethereum profile picture (PFP) project, launched in 2022 by Kevin Rose’s Proof to immense demand, had seen its reputation crater amid community backlash, ownership shakeups, and plummeting prices. Holders griped about broken promises, shifting roadmaps, and changing leadership. By mid-2023, the project’s floor price had fallen from double-digit ETH highs to well under 1 ETH, making it an enduring punchline in NFT circles....

    NewsNFTs
    6 min read
    Erika Lee
  • Project X among leading Hyperliquid projects. Image: Project X

    Project X Aims to Give DeFi a Shot of Dopamine—Like 'Uniswap With Rizz'

    Hyperliquid has rapidly become a major player in decentralized finance, but Project X aims to level the playing field on the layer-1 HyperEVM chain that powers it—and seeks to become the frontend for the ecosystem in the process. In a space crowded with teams racing to build similar platforms, the team insists its strategy stands apart. Rather than focusing solely on technical innovation, Project X sits down with Decrypt for an exclusive interview on how it is taking a distribution-first approac...

    NewsDeFi
    5 min read
    Erika Lee
  • Source: Decrypt/Shutterstock

    Bitcoin Alkanes: The Next Big BTC Innovation After Ordinals and Runes?

    If you follow the latest in Bitcoin happenings, then you may have seen the name “Alkanes” pop up on your timeline via Ordinals and Runes enjoyers. But what is it? Alkanes is a new metaprotocol built on Bitcoin that introduces trustless smart contract functionality to the base layer, without relying on bridges or external execution layers. It allows developers to build apps and launch tokens natively on Bitcoin, expanding the functionality of the original blockchain. Developed by Oyl Corp, the pr...

    NewsTechnology
    5 min read
    Erika Lee
  • Bitcoin. Image: Shutterstock/Decrypt

    Bitcoin Is Getting Native, Dollar-Backed Stablecoin USDB

    Bitcoin is heralded as the world’s hardest money, but the network lacks one of the most foundational financial tools: a native, dollar-denominated stablecoin. While other native Bitcoin stablecoins already exist, they are backed by Bitcoin, not dollars. That’s changing today with the announcement of USDB, a new stablecoin that aims to bring a regulated, U.S. dollar-backed asset directly to Bitcoin's base layer. Created by decentralized exchange Flashnet, USDB will be issued on Bitcoin layer-2 ne...

    NewsCoins
    3 min read
    Erika Lee
  • Source: Decrypt/Shutterstock

    Bitcoin DeFi Is Taking Root on Sui—Here’s How It Works

    Bitcoin is widely considered the most secure and decentralized digital asset. But for all its strength as a store of value, it’s historically offered little financial utility due to network limitations, while its ballooning price has kept it from being seen as everyday spending money. Bitcoin DeFi, also known as BTCfi—a term referring to decentralized finance applications built on Bitcoin—is emerging to change that. Sui is one of several layer-1 blockchains now supporting Bitcoin-based functiona...

    NewsDeFi
    6 min read
    Erika Lee

  • Claynosaurz Expands From Solana to Sui With New NFTs, Upcoming Game

    Claynosaurz, an NFT-driven entertainment brand that first set up shop on Solana, is expanding to a second blockchain: Sui. The announcement came during Token2049’s Sui Basecamp event, where Claynosaurz CEO Andrew Pelekis outlined how the team is setting its sights on a broader frontier for interactive digital IP—starting with a series of upcoming launches tied to collectibles, gaming, and community engagement. The expansion builds on a March reveal that Claynosaurz would use Walrus Protocol—a de...

    NewsNFTs
    3 min read
    Erika Lee
  • Magic Eden is bringing Slingshot Finance under its umbrella. Image: Magic Eden

    Magic Eden Pivots Into Crypto Trading With Slingshot App Acquisition

    After teasing a big announcement and an announcement of an announcement, Magic Eden has finally revealed the news: It’s pivoting into fungible token and meme coin trading across multiple chains. In a move signaling its growing ambitions beyond NFTs, Magic Eden revealed Wednesday that it will acquire Slingshot Finance, the mobile-first crypto trading application known for its cross-chain swaps and retail-friendly interface. The acquisition strategy positions Magic Eden as an alternative to tradit...

    NewsBusiness
    3 min read
    Erika Lee
  • Image: Shutterstock

    Bringing Reputation On-Chain: Can Ethos Network Boost Trust and Credibility in Crypto?

    In the Wild West of crypto, where scams and fraud remain common, one team is betting on a novel solution: bringing reputation on-chain. Ethos Network, a platform designed to establish credibility and trust in the crypto space, is gaining traction as it tackles one of the industry’s most persistent problems—bad actors. The brainchild of Trevor Thompson (aka Serpin Taxt) and Ben Walther, Ethos was born out of frustration with rampant scams plaguing the space. “I used to do a lot of trading in cryp...

    NewsTechnology
    6 min read
    Erika Lee
  • Animecoin. Image: Animecoin Foundation

    'Not Just Hype': How the Azuki-Linked Animecoin Drop Aims to Fuel Collaborative Anime

    Imagine a world where co-creating and contributing to the growth of your favorite anime series is both encouraged and rewarded. Through this collaborative model, new stories have the opportunity to be told, new monetization strategies can surface, and anime culture can continue to spread worldwide. This is what the Animecoin Foundation is trying to accomplish. It wants to bring the global anime fan base on-chain, where creators can have a more accurate picture of fan engagement and attribution,...

    NewsCoins
    6 min read
    Erika Lee
  • 9dcc's Black Box. Image: 9dcc

    Fashion Label 9dcc’s ‘Black Box’ Offers Mystery Apparel—And a CryptoPunk Prize

    9dcc, the on-chain fashion label founded by pseudonymous crypto personality and investor gmoney, is preparing to release its latest project, the 9dcc Black Box, on December 18. The drop, limited to 2,750 NFTs minted on Ethereum layer-2 network Base, is being billed by the crypto-native luxury brand as a blend of fashion, blockchain technology, and mystery. Each 9dcc Black Box promises a mix of digital and physical rewards. Buyers might find an item from the label’s Collection-01, which ranges fr...

    NewsNFTs
    3 min read
    Erika Lee

  • Leap of Faith: Auction to Benefit Children's Cancer Research Attracts Major Crypto Artists

    A prominent crypto industry creator is channeling his personal journey and using his platform for a meaningful mission: Raising funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital through cryptocurrency donations and NFT sales. Pseudonymous influencer Leap’s upcoming initiative will debut with an art auction at Art Basel Miami on Friday afternoon, bringing together the worlds of blockchain and fine art to support life-saving research. It marks the culmination of months of personal and professional t...

    NewsNFTs
    5 min read
    Erika Lee
  • Coinbase is the leading crypto exchange in the U.S. Image: Decrypt/André Beganski

    Coinbase Ending Direct Crypto Paycheck Feature, New Wallet Integration In the Works

    U.S. publicly-listed crypto exchange Coinbase announced Tuesday it is ending its Paycheck Direct Deposit service, a feature that had previously allowed users to allocate part or all of their paycheck to be paid in crypto.  “Starting November 25, we'll no longer support paycheck direct deposit on Coinbase,” the exchange’s team said in an email sent to users Monday. “Please remove your Coinbase account from your paycheck to avoid delays in getting paid.” However, the decision has sparked frustrati...

    NewsBusiness
    2 min read
    Erika Lee
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