A single Moonbirds NFT has changed hands for just over US$1 million less than a week after the collection racked up more than US$200 million in sales in its first three days.
Moonbird #2642, one of the rarest NFTs in the collection of avian avatars, sold for a record 350 ETH (US$1.05 million) on NFT marketplace OpenSea on April 23.
The buyer was listed as The Sandbox, a blockchain-based gaming firm and subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands. The seller, who goes by “oscuranft” on OpenSea, pocketed a profit of about US$600,000 after buying the NFT a week ago for 100 ETH.
New ‘Nesting’ Feature for Moonbirds
Moonbirds was launched on April 16 by PROOF, a media startup founded by venture capitalist Kevin Rose. In a recent video, Rose explained how Moonbirds is building on its rapid success by launching a new feature called “nesting”, where holders can stake their NFTs in a non-custodial way and earn additional benefits:
In a separate Twitter Spaces post this week, Rose addressed the controversial exit of Ryan Carson, the project’s chief operating officer, who has left to start his own NFT venture fund.
Allegations of Insider Trading
News of Carson’s departure drew immediate fire from the broader NFT community, with many questioning how Carson was able to purchase hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of Moonbirds before his exit, possibly using insider knowledge to poach undervalued editions:
I had an internal policy not to purchase any moonbirds until after rarity counts were out to the public. I can’t control someone clicking a button to purchase, but I can put stronger controls in place for all future drops. e.g., no employee purchases for 7-days.
— KΞVIN R◎SE (🪹,🦉) (@kevinrose) April 25, 2022
Carson’s cache of Moonbirds is worth US$1.2 million based on floor prices alone, as most were bought before prices ballooned following the initial mint.
Azukies Still Holds Record Price
With a 34 ETH (roughly US$100,000) current floor price, Moonbirds have racked up over US$330 million in sales since the April 16 mint. But there’s an even hotter collection out there in the NFT ecosystem. Azukies, an Ethereum-based set of hand-drawn, anime-style profile picture NFTs, reached a milestone earlier this month with the sale of a single Azuki for a record US$1.4 million.
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