Moonbirds

Moonbirds came out of PROOF, the NFT company that Digg co-founder Kevin Rose started with the artist Justin Mezzell and Ryan Carson, its chief operating officer. PROOF opened in December 2021 with the PROOF Collective, 1,000 membership passes sold by Dutch auction. Its first PFP collection, Moonbirds, followed on Ethereum in April 2022: 10,000 pixel-art owls with art by Mezzell, most sold through a raffled allowlist and 2,000 minted free by pass holders. A week after launch the game company The Sandbox bought Moonbird #2642. That April PROOF also added nesting, which lets holders lock a bird in their own wallet to climb nest levels and earn drops.

A sister collection, Oddities, made with the artist Gremplin, was airdropped to nested Moonbirds holders in May 2022. That August PROOF raised a Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz and moved Moonbirds and Oddities to a CC0 license, putting the art in the public domain. Some holders complained that they were never given a vote. In January 2023 PROOF signed with United Talent Agency to find licensing, merchandise and media deals. Mythics began hatching in July 2023: 20,000 illustrated birds, claimed by nesting a Moonbird or burning an Oddity.

Yuga Labs bought PROOF in February 2024, taking over Moonbirds, Oddities, Mythics and the Grails art series. Rose became an adviser, and Yuga planned to bring the birds into its Otherside metaverse. In May 2025 Yuga sold the Moonbirds, Mythics and Oddities IP to Orange Cap Games, a New York studio led by CEO Spencer Gordon-Sand that makes the Vibes trading card game. Moonbirds announced the BIRB token in October 2025 and launched it on Solana in January 2026. In June 2026 the birds joined Vibes in Birb & Pengu, a set that brings them together with Pudgy Penguins.