Welcome again to the Now Publication. I’m Matt Medved, reporting reside from NFC Summit Lisbon.
That is our third yr as a media accomplice for NFC Summit, and it stays considered one of my favourite occasions on the calendar. In contrast to bigger European conferences that attempt to cowl your entire blockchain spectrum, NFC retains digital artwork on the heart, with a distinctly art-forward focus that pulls high creators and collectors from around the globe.
Final yr’s spotlight? Internet hosting Beeple’s reside On a regular basis. It was pure chaos, the closest factor I’ve ever seen to a real-life feedback part. On the heart of the art work stood a large digital monolith which Beeple was inscribing in actual time with no matter memecoin ticker symbols the gang may throw at him. Degens clawed their technique to the entrance, waving their telephones and barking ticker symbols — $PEPE, $MOG, $WHO-KNOWS-WHAT — prefer it was a sacred ritual. Everybody needed their shitcoin immortalized in pixels.
After a season of constructing, we’re again to mark a brand new chapter Be part of us at NYC’s @Pier59Studios on June 26 for a particular showcase of digital artwork’s subsequent frontier: immersive works that blur the road between viewer and environmentPresented with @Projekt_______ RSVP beneath ↓ pic.twitter.com/ooFzHIjyCD
— Now Media (@nowmedia) June 6, 2025
This yr, I used to be interviewed on the principle stage to introduce our forthcoming Now Media model reset and announce our “Sculpting Time” exhibition debuting throughout NFT NYC. I additionally moderated conversations with Seedphrase, Mad Canine Jones, Andrea Chiampo, and a panel on the way forward for PFPs with OSF (Rekt), Sergio Silva (Meebits), Tyler Guyot (Good Vibes Membership), and Vi Powils, the brand new CEO of World of Girls.
It proved particularly well timed given the Moonbirds revival — simply days earlier, Orange Cap Video games introduced its acquisition of the mission from Yuga Labs. So we sat down with founder Spencer Gordon-Sand for an in-depth dialog on what comes subsequent.
Let’s dive in.
Can Moonbirds Make a Comeback?
This previous week, Orange Cap Video games introduced its acquisition of Moonbirds, the NFT mission initially launched by Kevin Rose’s Proof Collective. The transfer marked the most recent in a string of strategic IP divestitures by Yuga Labs, which had acquired Moonbirds final yr in an all-stock deal. With the Bored Ape creator narrowing its focus, Moonbirds has now discovered a brand new house beneath the management of Spencer Gordon-Sand.
Gordon-Sand is not any stranger to the NFT ecosystem. By way of his agency Spencer Ventures, he’s been one of many area’s most lively contributors — buying and selling, investing, and offering liquidity throughout main tasks. Extra not too long ago, he co-founded Orange Cap Video games, a crypto-native shopper model that launched Vibes, a Pudgy Penguins buying and selling card recreation that helped OCG generate over $1.5 million in income. Now, he’s setting his sights on reviving Moonbirds as a standalone IP — beginning with what he calls a “laborious reset.”
On this unique Q&A, Gordon-Sand joins me to interrupt down how the deal got here collectively, what a Moonbirds comeback seems to be like in a post-royalty world, and why NFTs nonetheless provide a extra significant type of enjoyable than memecoins and metrics.Matt Medved: How did this acquisition come collectively, and the way lengthy has it been within the works?Spencer Gordon-Sand: I’ve recognized Garga for fairly some time. Enjoyable reality—he likes to play Magic: The Gathering. We related rather a lot over that. One evening, he was at my home ripping Pokémon packs and consuming whiskey till like 3 a.m. We’ve been discussing varied issues within the business. When he stepped again into the position at Yuga, it grew to become clear he needed to refocus what Yuga was. You’ve seen him go on this lengthy arc. At the moment, it wasn’t like, “Yeah, give me Moonbirds.” It was extra like, “What steps must occur?” And one after the other, he’s been knocking them out — beginning with spinning out CryptoPunks, Meebits, all the things. Moonbirds was the one left. It simply needed to occur.It occurred on the order of magnitude of months. A lot of these offers progress like: first you conceptually float it, discuss it — then it turns into extra severe, and also you loosely agree — then you definitely dig into the messy particulars. All the pieces about Moonbirds was not clear — that’s not the phrase I’d use to explain the world Moonbirds have been in once we grabbed them. There have been all kinds of questions: Can we simply tackle Moonbirds? Are Mythics and Oddities coming alongside? What does buying Moonbirds even imply? Socials? Contracts? There’s an entire philosophical exploration of what this transition means, plus the sensible and authorized layers.
Yuga beforehand acquired Moonbirds in an all-stock deal from Proof. What are you able to inform us concerning the construction of this acquisition?
Proper now, we’re not sharing the small print of the acquisition past what we’ve launched in our announcement. One level that’s value pertaining to is L2 exclusivity. All it means is: if we’re going to do something with Moonbirds on an L2, it must be on ApeChain. That doesn’t imply we will’t do issues on different L1s — Ethereum, Solana, even TON. It additionally doesn’t imply we’re doing one thing on ApeChain, we haven’t introduced that. It’s only a sensible matter that is sensible. Yuga has an L2. They wouldn’t need IP they spun out going to a competitor. That’s honest.
The mission’s been by rather a lot. Kevin Rose is a polarizing determine. What position does its historical past play in its future?It’s been very nonlinear. It’s been by rather a lot. No matter what you consider any of the gamers, it’s a storied franchise. You can see it as broken items — however I don’t imagine that. The extra it’s been by, the extra the individuals who caught round matter. It’s like a trial by hearth. The actual fact there was nonetheless a group is unimaginable.
We’re approaching it like a clean slate. The historical past makes it culturally related. Cultural relevance usually comes from controversial moments, ups and downs, rebirth. We have been really extra excited to take it on as a result of it’s been by a lot. Once we went into the Discord, folks have been like, “Oh my God, you’re right here.” That was the bar. We tweeted from the account — folks have been shocked. However those that caught round are actually our greatest advocates.
There’s rather a lot the Proof staff labored on that by no means shipped. Information and recordsdata of stuff. One hallmark of that staff is that they labored on rather a lot — it simply didn’t at all times ship. Mythics specifically are unimaginable. The artwork is top-tier. It’s clear somebody put $100 million value of effort and time into it. It is a laborious reset — we’re not simply executing the prior staff’s roadmap.
However we inherited beneficial belongings: model guides, unreleased artwork, visible instructions. That’s uncommon. Most individuals beginning a model from scratch wouldn’t have this. So although we’re beginning contemporary, we’ve bought a giant head begin.
“You can see it as broken items — however I don’t imagine that. The extra it’s been by, the extra the individuals who caught round matter.”
SPENCER GORDON-SAND
What does success seem like for Moonbirds?
First, is the group glad and engaged? Do they really feel like we’re in a greater place? Second, can we develop Moonbirds? That’s a broad purpose—relevance in crypto, exterior of crypto, and the way the model is greatest used. Proper now, our staff in Asia is exploring manufacturing facility capabilities and product instructions. Our artwork staff is exploring what we will make. We’re additionally eager about increasing Moonbirds’ attain. Traditionally, the model solely existed on Twitter. That should change. Crypto doesn’t simply reside on Twitter anymore. The world doesn’t reside there both. We’re Giphy, Instagram, TikTok—there’s low-hanging fruit to develop the model globally and off Twitter.
How do you propose to construct a sustainable enterprise whereas creating worth holders?
The great factor is Orange Cap Video games already generates income. We launched in 2024 and dropped Vibes, the Pudgy Penguins buying and selling card recreation, in December. Since then, we’ve achieved about $1.5 million in income from bodily product gross sales. The primary rule in crypto? Survive. Numerous NFT tasks simply ran out of cash. You could maintain the lights on. Now we have a staff in Asia doing direct manufacturing. We don’t outsource. That provides us margin and suppleness. So we’ll do activations and product drops that maintain us going. Now, how does that relate to holders? First, it lets us keep alive. Second, our purpose is to generate each mindshare and income. Should you spend all the things on one, you lose the opposite. Ideally, your merchandise do each. That’s what Pudgy did nicely — bodily merchandise that construct model and generate money. That’s the intersection we’re aiming for.
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