Welcome again to the Now Publication. I’m Matt Medved, reporting stay from NFC Summit Lisbon.
That is our third 12 months as a media associate for NFC Summit, and it stays one in every of my favourite occasions on the calendar. In contrast to bigger European conferences that attempt to cowl your complete blockchain spectrum, NFC retains digital artwork on the heart, with a distinctly art-forward focus that draws prime creators and collectors from all over the world.
Final 12 months’s spotlight? Internet hosting Beeple’s stay 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 solution 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 a 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 under ↓ pic.twitter.com/ooFzHIjyCD
— Now Media (@nowmedia) June 6, 2025
This 12 months, I used to be interviewed on the primary 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 Ladies.
It proved particularly well timed given the Moonbirds revival — simply days earlier, Orange Cap Video games introduced its acquisition of the undertaking 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 undertaking initially launched by Kevin Rose’s Proof Collective. The transfer marked the newest in a string of strategic IP divestitures by Yuga Labs, which had acquired Moonbirds final 12 months in an all-stock deal. With the Bored Ape creator narrowing its focus, Moonbirds has now discovered a brand new dwelling beneath the management of Spencer Gordon-Sand.
Gordon-Sand is not any stranger to the NFT ecosystem. Via his agency Spencer Ventures, he’s been one of many area’s most energetic individuals — buying and selling, investing, and offering liquidity throughout main initiatives. Extra lately, he co-founded Orange Cap Video games, a crypto-native client model that launched Vibes, a Pudgy Penguins buying and selling card sport 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 appears like in a post-royalty world, and why NFTs nonetheless supply a extra significant form 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 truth—he likes to play Magic: The Gathering. We related rather a lot over that. One night time, 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 turned 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, every little thing. 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, speak about it — then it turns into extra critical, and also you loosely agree — then you definitely dig into the messy particulars. Every part 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 types of questions: Can we simply tackle Moonbirds? Are Mythics and Oddities coming alongside? What does buying Moonbirds even imply? Socials? Contracts? There’s a complete 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 in regards to the construction of this acquisition?
Proper now, we’re not sharing the main points 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 smart. Yuga has an L2. They wouldn’t need IP they spun out going to a competitor. That’s honest.
The undertaking’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 consider that. The extra it’s been by, the extra the individuals who caught round matter. It’s like a trial by fireplace. The very fact there was nonetheless a neighborhood 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. Recordsdata and recordsdata of stuff. One hallmark of that staff is that they labored on rather a lot — it simply didn’t all the time ship. Mythics particularly 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 priceless belongings: model guides, unreleased artwork, visible instructions. That’s uncommon. Most individuals beginning a model from scratch wouldn’t have this. So despite the fact that we’re beginning recent, we’ve received an enormous head begin.
“You can see it as broken items — however I don’t consider that. The extra it’s been by, the extra the individuals who caught round matter.”
SPENCER GORDON-SAND
What does success appear like for Moonbirds?
First, is the neighborhood blissful 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, outdoors of crypto, and the way the model is finest used. Proper now, our staff in Asia is exploring manufacturing unit capabilities and product instructions. Our artwork staff is exploring what we will make. We’re additionally fascinated by increasing Moonbirds’ attain. Traditionally, the model solely existed on Twitter. That should change. Crypto doesn’t simply stay on Twitter anymore. The world doesn’t stay there both. We’re taking a look at Giphy, Instagram, TikTok—there’s low-hanging fruit to develop the model globally and off Twitter.
How do you intend to construct a sustainable enterprise whereas creating worth holders?
The nice factor is Orange Cap Video games already generates income. We launched in 2024 and dropped Vibes, the Pudgy Penguins buying and selling card sport, in December. Since then, we’ve accomplished about $1.5 million in income from bodily product gross sales. The primary rule in crypto? Survive. Numerous NFT initiatives simply ran out of cash. It’s essential maintain the lights on. We’ve a staff in Asia doing direct manufacturing. We don’t outsource. That offers 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. If you happen to spend every little thing 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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