What are Moonbirds? NFT Collectibles Guide

For many, 2021 is the year that the popularity of NFTs will grow significantly and push them into the mainstream.

Although total NFT sales are down in 2022, the hype is far from over. However, this year, the trend seems to have shifted from a fragmented market to one centered on blue-chip and high-end projects.

While some projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks, Azuki continue to influence many newcomers, the launch of Moonbirds NFT collectibles in April 2022 caught the attention of the entire community.

What are Moonbirds NFTs?

Moonbirds is a 10,000 NFT collectible issued on the Ethereum network on April 16, 2022 according to the ERC-721 standard.

According to the official website, Moonbirds NFTs stand for “practical PFPs with a rich, diverse and unique pool of rare traits.”

Essentially, the program aims to be another blue-chip PFP program, but also adds a host of other perks for Moonbirds owners. In addition to this usability, each Moonbird is also designed to unlock memberships in private clubs, while granting users additional benefits the longer they hold them. The last point is called nesting.

For example, holding Moonbird also gives access to Discord servers. Once inside, users will have access to a private Moonbirds channel that provides information on upcoming releases, community events, nesting, and more.

The collection is minted at 2.5 ETH each and also earns the creator a 5% royalty from every secondary sale. According to the official website, the owners of Moonbirds also have full intellectual property rights to them.

At the time of writing, less than a week after minting, the floor price has skyrocketed to an astronomical 36 ETH (worth around $108,000) thanks to the nesting feature that is expected to be unlocked.

What is nesting?

In addition to the pixelated design that has stood the test of time in the cryptocurrency community (see CryptoPunks), Moonbirds are built in such a way that they can be locked and nested without leaving the user's wallet.

Once the Moonbird is nested, it will start accumulating more rewards, and as the total nesting time accumulates, users will see their NFT reach new tiers - thus, upgrading their nest.

Nesting is not available at the time of writing, although the team has committed to doing it in as timely a manner as possible.

Who created Moonbirds?

Speaking of the team, let's dig a little deeper into the people behind Moonbirds. The organization responsible for this collection is called PROOF, and they are behind the PROOF Collective and the Grails project.

PROOF was founded by Kevin Rose and Justin Mezzell, well-known figures in the NFT world. After the Mint, Rose posted a YouTube video revealing that they planned to use the proceeds of the sale to transform PROOF into a well-known and reputable media company.

Regardless, the PROOF Collective is also a closed community, accessible only to the 1,000 people who own the PROOF Collective NFT, with a current floor price of up to 140 ETH ($420,000) at the time of writing.

Essentially, the PROOF Collective is a private group of 1,000 NFT collectors and artists. Holding a PROOF Collective NFT comes with various benefits - one of which is the ability to mint two Moonbirds during launch.

Moonbirds NFT Launch: Controversy and Beyond

Like every hype, Moonbirds brought some controversy. To analyze, it is important to note how the collection was minted.

First, each holder of the PROOF Collective NFT (mentioned above) can mint two birds with assurance. This yields 2,000 Moonbird NFTs.

Second, 7,875 Moonbirds were allocated to those who won the draw, and this is where some controversy arose. Renowned cryptocurrency researcher Zachxbt revealed that some users used bots to create more than 400 accounts to Sybil attack sweepstakes. Many in the community believe that there's no reason this shouldn't happen, although it's sure to offend fair users who can't be minted as a result.

Regardless, the final 125 are reserved for team allocation.

Why do people buy Moonbirds?

Needless to say, Moonbirds has been the hottest topic in the NFT space over the past week. In the 6 days since minting, the collection has seen a total transaction volume of over 100,000 ETH, which is just under $300 million, far surpassing all other collectibles in that particular time period.

There appear to be multiple reasons behind this enormous interest. Art is certainly one of them. Moonbirds have unique characteristics, some of which are even rarer. This secures the sale of this Moonbird NFT for 265 ETH:

Their interesting design, combined with PROOF Collective's reputation and the huge amount of attention the project garnered before it was built, led to a huge amount of hype surrounding it, which in turn created a further catalyst for Moonbirds' price.