Moonbirds DAO to Launch With $2.6M in Ethereum and NFTs From Kevin Rose’s Proof

Popular Ethereum NFT project Moonbirds will adopt community governance through a DAO—or decentralized autonomous organization—set to launch in early 2023, project creator Proof announced today.

Proof, which was co-founded by CEO and tech entrepreneur Kevin Rose, revealed additional details for the previously-confirmed DAO structure, which is being established to “empower creatives that are building towards furthering the Moonbirds ecosystem, reputation, and lore,” per an official explainer.

A DAO is an online group united by a shared goal or purpose, with membership typically represented via ownership of a token. In this case, the Moonbirds DAO will allow owners of Moonbirds and the upcoming Moonbirds Mythics NFTs to join and participate, submitting and voting on proposals to expand the ecosystem around the tokenized owl collectibles.

Proof’s explainer notes that the DAO is being established to “empower creatives that are building towards furthering the Moonbirds ecosystem, reputation, and lore.”

Rose’s startup will seed the DAO with approximately $2.6 million worth of assets, including $2 million worth of ETH. Another $500,000 will be spent to buy Moonbirds NFTs on the market—an estimated 37 NFTs, based on the current floor price (or cheapest available NFT)—plus Proof will award the DAO seven of its own Moonbirds NFTs, or about $100,000 worth.

Proof will also grant 35% of the ongoing creator royalties from both Moonbirds and its spinoff Oddities collection to the DAO. The organization will launch with a “cold start” caveat that lets Proof veto any “rogue proposal,” similar to how the DAO-driven Nouns project began.

“We doubt this will happen, but want to have safeguards in place to protect against attacks until we are comfortable with the voting process,” reads Proof’s explainer on the structure.

Moonbirds launched in April to a frenzy of trading activity, generating $280 million worth of primary and secondary market sales within just two days. To date, secondary market sales have topped $595 million, per data from CryptoSlam. An NFT is a blockchain token that represents ownership in a unique item—in the case of Moonbirds, a profile picture with a singular combination of various visual traits.

Launching a DAO is one step is a significant evolution of the project from its original design. In August, Proof announced that it would switch Moonbirds to an open-source, “no rights reserved” model using the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license.

That means that anyone can use any Moonbirds or Oddities artwork to create and profit from derivative artwork and products. The Moonbirds DAO structure will tie into the updated approach, as members can vote on which derivative projects can tap the Moonbirds trademark and use the official name.

Later in August, Proof announced plans to release its own utility token in Q1 2023, which could intersect with the Moonbirds DAO plans in some way.

“We are well aware that the world doesn’t need another token for speculation,” Rose said at the time. “So when we do something, it should be uniquely our own with real utility, and something that we believe pushes what’s possible in new and exciting directions. Otherwise, why would we be doing it? There’s just no reason at all.”

Proof also revealed Moonbirds Mythics, which will span 20,000 NFTs and launch early next year, plus a $50 million funding round led by VC giant Andreessen Horowitz.