A cohort of investors, including former executives from Binance and Yield Guild Games, has orchestrated a community buyout of blue chip NFT collection 0N1 Force.
The group was led by blockchain investment firm Old Fashion Research (OFR), according to a statement. It did not disclose the sum paid.
First minted in August 2021, 0N1 Force is a collection of 7,777 NFTs featuring side-on faces. It was one of the first anime NFT collections on the market and has since accumulated over 54,000 ETH ($90 million) in transaction volumes across all marketplaces.
Although the founders of 0N1 Force have left the venture, current project leader Henry Finn (also known as Starlordy) will become CEO of the group and existing community moderators will also be retained, according to the release.
OFR was founded in late 2021 by former Binance VP of M&A Ling Zhang and Wayne Fu, previously Binance’s head of corporate development. It came out of stealth with a $100 million fund in May last year. While at Binance, Zhang led the exchange’s acquisitions and investments into FTX, Multicoin Capital and CertiK, among others.
Changing of the guard
A community board will be formed to oversee the 0N1 Force project, featuring Finn, Zhang, OFR Strategic Adviser and ex-Binance CFO Wei Zhou, as well as new Chief Strategy Officer William Tong and Yield Guild Games COO Colin Goltra, who will be joining the project as a senior adviser and investor.
The group has said it intends to “deploy significant funds into the growing 0N1 Force franchise, with a view to establishing it as a leading metaverse-native IP.”
The project’s 2023 roadmap includes a 50 ETH Artist Fund to support community talent and a graphic novel series created and led by community contributors.
The buyout marks the latest attempt at consolidation of valuable IP in the NFT market as projects shift into a higher gear. Last week, HadesDAO, the organization associated with the Hadeswap protocol, acquired SolanaMonkeyBusiness (SMB) and its IP. SMB is one of the most valuable collections on the Solana blockchain.
Article updated after publication to correct the name OFR.
Source: https://www.theblock.co/post/213460/nft-project-0n1-force-bought-out?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss