Yuga Labs has acquired PROOF, taking over the NFT collection known as Moonbirds.

Yuga Labs has announced the acquisition of PROOF, the entity behind the NFT collection Moonbirds.

Yuga Labs acquires PROOF, taking over the NFT collection Moonbirds. Image: Defiant

Yuga Labs has just unveiled a deal to acquire PROOF, the organization renowned for the Moonbirds NFT collection. However, Yuga Labs has declined to disclose any specifics regarding the acquisition.

As part of the agreement, Yuga Labs will also take over other Moonbirds collections such as Oddities, Mythics, and Grails.

With this acquisition, Moonbirds will join Yuga Labs' roster of managed NFT collections on the Ethereum blockchain, which includes Bored Ape Yacht Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Bored Ape Kennel Club, CryptoPunks, Meebits, and Otherside. Notably, CryptoPunks and Meebits were also acquired by Yuga Labs in March 2022.

Moonbirds was once among the most renowned NFT collections in the market, although its sales figures have not matched those of Yuga Labs' flagship Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC).

According to the announcement, Yuga Labs plans to integrate Moonbirds into its Otherside metaverse game, aiming to make PROOF Collective a significant part of their community-building efforts.

In the NFT sector overall, trading volumes have seen some recovery since late last year but have yet to reach the peak levels seen in 2021-2022. During that period, monthly trading volumes for BAYC exceeded $200 million, according to CryptoSlam.

Moonbirds, on the other hand, achieved a trading volume milestone of $500 million in April 2022. Since then, its monthly revenues have consistently remained below $5 million.

The recent acquisition is seen as a lifeline amidst stagnant trading days for a collection that once saw individual NFTs fetching over 25 ETH. Following the news, PROOF Pass prices surged by 80%, while NFT Moonbirds also rose by 30% to reach 2.1 ETH.

The floor price of Moonbirds NFTs has increased nearly 20% in the past 24 hours.

With Moonbirds' NFT prices spiking prior to Yuga Labs' acquisition announcement, questions have been raised about potential information leaks.

In 2022, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) led PROOF's $50 million Series A funding round. Around the same time, a16z also invested in Yuga Labs.