Yuga Labs, the industry’s largest NFT studio, is getting bigger. The company announced that it has acquired competing non-fungible token creator Proof, best known for its Moonbirds collection.
“As a company dedicated to championing art, culture and community on blockchain, we are excited to have PROOF join the Yuga ecosystem,” Yuga Labs CEO Daniel Alegre said in a statement.
Yuga Labs declined to disclose details about the acquisition when asked how much the company might have paid to acquire Proof, founded by entrepreneur Kevin Rose. Proof’s Moonbirds collection was once one of the most popular NFT brands on the market, but it has not consistently matched the sales achieved by Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club.
Yuga Labs said in a statement that it plans to add Moonbirds to Otherside, a gamified metaverse play. “Moonbirds is a collection that has tremendous potential and has many brand elements that are integrated into Otherside,” said Alegre. “We look forward to PROOF Collective being an important part of our ongoing arts and community engagement efforts.”
Overall NFT trading volume has rebounded somewhat since the end of last year, but continues to remain well below what was recorded during the bull days of 2021 and 2022. Bored Ape Yacht Club’s NFTs have surpassed $200 million in monthly sales on multiple occasions. During that period, according to CryptoSlam data.
According to CryptoSlam data, the Moonbirds collection reached nearly $500 million in trading volume in April 2022, but since then the brand’s NFTs have consistently generated less than $5 million in monthly revenue.
A brief ‘handover’ for Kevin Rose.
“There will be a brief transition period before Proof’s CEO and founder, Kevin Rose, becomes an advisor to the company,” Yuga Labs said in a statement. Other Proof brands that Yuga Labs will manage include Moonbirds spin-off collections Oddities, Mythics and Grails.
Rose said in a statement that Proof is “excited to bring Moonbirds to Otherside. The combined resources of both companies will allow us to innovate faster and reach more people.”
In 2022, Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z, led a $50 million Series A fundraising for Proof. A16z also invested in Yuga Labs in 2022.
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