Yuga Labs, developer of the popular Non-Fungible Token Collection (NFT) collection Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), announced that it has acquired competing NFT company PROOF. The deal is understood to give Yuga Labs full ownership of all of PROOF’s assets and products, including the Moonbirds NFT collection.
Yuga Labs Introduces Moonbirds in Metaverse Project
Yuga Labs shared details of the strategic brand expansion associated with its acquisition of the PROOF NFT development company in a blog post on Friday. While the exact amount involved in the deal is unknown, BAYC curators said the move was in line with their vision of becoming the “front door to Web3.”
Yuga Labs acquired it. @PROOF_XYZPROOF Collective is included, @Moonbirdmythology, @oddities_xyzand @Holy Grail Exhibition series.
For more information, please refer to the Yuga News official blog (https://t.co/ly3fTYxCBk). pic.twitter.com/ouvIM4Hr4S
— Yuga Labs (@yugalabs) February 16, 2024
Yuga Labs, arguably the largest NFT studio in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, now adds PROOF’s entire portfolio to its collection, including the PROOF collective, Oddities, Mythics, Grails, and the startup’s flagship project, Moonbirds.
Commenting on this development, Yuga Labs CEO Daniel Alegre expressed great excitement, saying the acquisition of PROOF represents part of the company’s vision to promote artistic and cultural excellence and foster community in the blockchain ecosystem.
Alegre also highlighted plans for some of PROOF’s exhibition series, which specifically includes integrating Moonbirds into Yuga Lab’s metaverse project, Otherside. That’s because they believe both projects share “many unifying brand elements.”
PROOF Boss set to take on advisor role in new setup
Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Yuga Labs will bring on board all PROOF team members, including the company’s CEO and founder, Kevin Rose. Kevin Rose will assume an advisory role to BAYC Producers following the completion of the acquisition process.
Kevin Rose, impressed by the deal, said:
We are very excited to bring Moonbirds to Otherside. This is the perfect home and future for collectors. PROOF Collective showcases Yuga’s commitment to digital art, and our combined resources will allow us to innovate faster and reach more people. It will be an exciting journey.
Notably, Yuga Labs has already appointed certain former PROOF employees to serve as an oversight team to ensure a smooth transition and adoption of Moonbirds into the Yuga ecosystem. This staff includes Josh Ong, Jesse Bryan and Amanda Gadbow.
In other news, NFT trading volume continues to remain at the worst levels compared to the highs recorded during the 2021-2022 bull market. Data from NFT aggregator Cryptoslam shows that daily trading volume is currently at $40.34 million, down more than 93% from the highest value of $579.09 million recorded on May 1, 2022.
Total crypto market cap valued at $1.894 trillion on the daily chart | Source: TOTAL chart on Tradingview.com
Featured image from Binance, chart from TradingView