In a notable development within the digital assets market, the Ethereum Non-Fungible Token (NFT) collection Moonbirds has witnessed a significant upswing in both value and trading volume late Friday afternoon. This surge follows the announcement that Yuga Labs, the creators behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club, have acquired the intellectual property rights for the Moonbirds collection in partnership with the original creator, Proof. The transaction has sparked discussions and raised eyebrows over the possibility of insider trading prior to the public disclosure.
According to insights gathered from the blockchain analytics firm CryptoSlam, Moonbirds’ daily sales volume remained consistently below the $100,000 threshold throughout the majority of February, barring a single day on February 4, where trade amounted to approximately $141,000. However, the scene shifted dramatically on February 14, with sales volume skyrocketing fivefold compared to the previous day, reaching around $460,000 and marking a nearly fourfold increase in transaction frequency. Sales volume persisted at a raised level the following day, accumulating to about $333,000 worth of transactions. Notably, the surge continued and intensified subsequent to the Friday announcement, with the day’s total sales approaching a staggering $3.1 million and climbing.
A closer examination of the project’s market dynamics, specifically the price floor or the lowest listed price for an asset within the collection, reveals a similar pattern of escalation in the days leading up to the merger announcement. Data from NFT Price Floor indicates that the lowest price began at roughly $2,680 worth of Ethereum on Monday afternoon, before escalating and peaking at $5,000 by Wednesday. Although there was a slight retraction in price, it exploded again following Friday’s news, momentarily surpassing the $6,000 mark, before settling at around $5,170 at the time of writing.
The steep increase in asset prices post-announcement is not entirely unexpected, though the precursory surge raises questions about the influence of non-public information on trading behavior. The crypto community, particularly on platforms like Crypto Twitter, has voiced concerns regarding the potential for insider trading, with notable figures pointing out the anomalous market activity preceding the official announcement.
For instance, a pseudonymous blockchain developer highlighted the unexplained spike in Moonbirds’ price and sales volume before the public disclosure by Yuga Labs, sarcastically dismissing the notion of insider trading. Additionally, a prominent pseudonymous crypto trader humorously suggested that a wallet which had amassed over 150 NFTs from the Proof ecosystem in the days preceding the announcement belonged to Nancy Pelosi, indirectly commenting on past accusations of insider trading associated with the U.S. Representative.
In response to inquiries about the possibility of information leaks leading up to the official announcement, representatives from Proof informed that there were no known leaks, whereas Yuga Labs chose not to comment on the matter. The situation underscores the opaque nature of information dissemination in the burgeoning NFT market, throwing into sharp relief the need for vigilant regulatory oversight and clearer guidelines to navigate the complex interplay of technology, finance, and art that characterizes this new frontier of digital assets.