Moonbirds NFTs Soar After Yuga Labs Sells IP to Orange Cap Games

Yuga Labs has divested the intellectual property of its Moonbirds NFT collection to Orange Cap Games, a move that has significantly boosted Moonbirds' market activity. This strategic sale, part of Yuga Labs' ongoing efforts to streamline its focus, has led to a dramatic surge in Moonbirds NFT sales and floor price, signaling renewed investor confidence in the collection.

Moonbirds Soar After Orange Cap Games Acquisition

In a significant development for the NFT market, Yuga Labs, a prominent player in the Web3 space, announced on May 30 its sale of the Moonbirds, Mythics, and Oddities NFT collections' intellectual property to Orange Cap Games (OCG). This acquisition has ignited a remarkable resurgence in Moonbirds' market performance.

• Sales Volume Surge: Moonbirds witnessed an astounding 2,525% increase in weekly sales volume, reaching over $2 million by June 6. Monthly sales for June have already surpassed May's total of $900,000.

• Transaction Spike: The collection recorded over 1,000 transactions in the last seven days, an 877% jump from the previous week.

• Floor Price Increase: The floor price of Moonbirds NFTs more than tripled, climbing from 0.295 ETH to 0.9 ETH post-acquisition. Despite this surge, the collection remains significantly below its April 2022 all-time high of 38.5 ETH.

• Market Ranking: Moonbirds ascended to the seventh position in weekly NFT sales rankings, outperforming established collections like Pudgy Penguins and Bored Ape Yacht Club.

Strategic Shift for Yuga Labs

This divestiture aligns with Yuga Labs' broader strategy to concentrate on its core intellectual properties, including the Bored Ape Yacht Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, and its metaverse project, Otherside. Greg Solano, co-founder of Yuga Labs, expressed confidence in Orange Cap Games' ability to nurture the Moonbirds ecosystem, stating that the collection "deserves a team whose whole world is the birds."

Key aspects of the deal include:

• Moonbirds will still be integrated into Otherside.

• New on-chain assets developed by OCG will be hosted on Ethereum or Yuga's ApeChain.

Orange Cap Games: A New Steward

Orange Cap Games, known for its hybrid trading card game Vibes, which incorporates Pudgy Penguins IP, is now at the helm of the Moonbirds ecosystem. This acquisition grants OCG creative and developmental control, promising a fresh direction for the popular NFT collection.

Broader NFT Market Recovery

The Moonbirds surge coincides with a broader positive trend in the NFT market. May saw a significant uptick in activity, breaking a five-month decline:

• Sales Volume: NFT sales reached $476 million in May, a 27% increase from April.

• Unique Buyers: The number of unique NFT buyers rose by 50% to 936,000 in May.

This acquisition marks another instance of Yuga Labs offloading non-core assets, following similar sales of CryptoPunks IP to Infinite Node Foundation and Meebits to The Meebit Company. These strategic moves reflect a recalibration within the NFT industry as it navigates evolving market dynamics.

Sources

• Yuga Labs sells Moonbirds NFT collection to Orange Cap Games, Cointelegraph.

• Moonbirds NFT Sales Jump 2,525% After Orange Cap Games Acquires IP, Cointelegraph.