The complete Guide to Moonbirds
Moonbirds is a project launched by Proof Collective, a members only group that includes 1,000 top NFT collectors and artists globally. Moonbirds is the second project from the Proof Collective and has been an extremely popular incarnation since its launch in April 2022, with trading volume exceeding 120,000 ETH ($350 million) in its first two weeks.
Proof Collective advertises Moonbirds as a collection of “10,000 utility-enabled PFPs (profile pictures) that feature a richly diverse and unique pool of rarity-powered traits”. Holding a Moonbird (which you would think is better than seeing two in a bush) unlocks membership to the Proof Collective private club as well as additional benefits the longer they are held, with access to the collective’s metaverse offering Project Highrise also guaranteed. But what exactly are Moonbirds and what makes them so special? This guide has the answers.
What are Moonbirds NFTs?
Moonbirds comes from the hand of a storied collection of NFT legends, including Beeple and VeeFriends creator Gary Vee. The fact that the Proof Collective is behind this collection is undoubtedly a huge draw, with its reputation in the NFT space driving prices of the collections under its wing into the stratosphere. This also makes it a verified blue chip NFT collection.
Moonbirds themselves are pixelated members of the avian family in various guises and dress and with a variety of “utility traits” that will find their utility in Project Highrise, the Proof Collective’s upcoming metaverse project. Proof Collective co-founder Kevin Rose explained in an interview in 2022 that the group designed Moonbirds with diversity of buyers in mind, which can be seen in the owl avatars which represent women and people of color, with one design sporting a rainbow flag for an eye.
Long term holders of Moonbirds also benefit from ‘nesting’, which sees rewards handed out as an NFT is held. Moonbirds were clearly designed with utility and other benefits in mind rather than just being a potentially profit making venture, which is reflected in their high floor price.
What are Moonbirds’ traits?
Moonbirds have nine trait categories (background, beak, body, eyes, eyewear, feathers, headwear, outerwear) and 126 traits in total. Moonbirds don’t have the same number of traits, possessing between three and eight each (more traits=higher rarity). Each trait category has its own rarity ranking – for example, 42.2% of Moonbirds have small beaks while 0.24% have no beak at all.
Moonbirds also has a rarity ranking system which gives the birds a rank 1-9998 depending on the combined value of the traits it possesses. The title of rarest Moonbird is split between eight contenders, all Rank 1, each of which has a rarity score of 74,599.84. For comparison, the birds in the 9998 rank have rarity scores of 403.
How does the trait combination impact the price of the Moonbirds collection?
Some of the Moonbirds’ traits will have little impact on rarity and therefore price, while others will have a bigger impact, so it’s worth investigating the differences. For example, your Moonbird could have one of 10 possible backgrounds – four of these backgrounds are present in a total of 24 of the NFTs in the series, while the other six backgrounds are found spread across the remaining 9,976! Other traits are much more equal – for example, there are 38 different types of headwear, with the rarest types being present in 0.57% of the NFTs and the most common (apart from ‘none’) being seen in just 3.38%. This means that headwear is less important than background when it comes to deciding rarity.
Needless to say, all the Moonbirds in Rank 1 have the rarest trait combinations and so go for the highest price, so when searching for a Moonbird to buy, your best bet is to filter by rank to get an idea of price and then filter by individuals traits within that rank to find one you like, or find the rarest one within that rank.
How can you trade Moonbirds?
It is no longer possible to buy or mint a Moonbird from the project’s site, leaving the secondary market as your only option. Moonbirds can be bought and sold on Opensea.io and Rarible where the floor price is 35 ETH. Seeing as Moonbirds has been minted on the Ethereum blockchain you will need either ETH or WETH to buy one, as well as having enough left for the transaction fee.
OpenSea allows users to buy listed Moonbirds outright or sell them through an auction. At the time of writing there are 175 available to buy and none up for auction, meaning that only 1.75% of holders are willing to part with their Moonbirds right now. This should tell you quite a lot about their popularity.
What was the most expensive Moonbirds NFT?
The most expensive Moonbird sold to date was Moonbird #2642, which was sold for 350 ETH ($1.27 million) on April 24, 2022, to The Sandbox Game. This netted the former owner, who still has six Moonbirds remaining in his collection, a nice profit of $566,000.
Moonbird #2642 is one of the eight Rank 1 ultra-rare pieces, with several traits in the highest level of rarity. There have been two other Moonbird sales of above 300 ETH, both of which were also Rank 1 pieces.
Where can you find Moonbirds for sale?
OpenSea and Rarible are the best marketplaces to buy Moonbird NFTs from, where the floor price is 35 ETH. Make sure you are viewing the official Moonbirds collection (denoted by a verification mark next to the collection name on your marketplace of choice) to avoid accidentally buying an NFT from the wrong collection. This is particularly important for Moonbirds, given that there are other collections with very similar names out there.
You will need to have your ETH or WETH in a compatible wallet such as MetaMask, and beware of gas fees when concluding a transaction.
How can you buy Moonbirds?
Once your wallet is connected to the exchange, use the search bar to search for the collection then ensure you are looking at the verified pieces. Next, use the filters to filter your Moonbirds by a variety of factors, such as traits, rank, or value. Next, check which ones are for sale or that you can make bids on.
All that done, you will be left with a list of Moonbirds you can buy or at least make offers for. Once you’ve chosen one to buy, check if it has a ‘buy now’ option. If so, hit it, confirm the transaction in your wallet, and it’s yours! If however the NFT in question is up for auction, you can still tempt the seller by placing a bid by using the same process – just click ‘make an offer’, located next to the ‘buy now’ button, place your bid, and see if the seller bites.
You will be notified if your bid is accepted or rejected.
Conclusion
Moonbirds is a prime example of a successful NFT project from a very powerful community. The fact that less than 2% of the Moonbird collection is for sale shows how highly it is valued, as does the floor price. While the pieces themselves are nice to look at, it is the added features that really make Moonbirds worth owning – access to the Proof Collective private group, the ‘nesting’ feature that rewards holders the longer they hold, and upcoming access to Project Highrise.
With so much on the horizon, it’s clear to see that Moonbirds has the potential to keep flying higher.
