Moonbirds Launches $BIRB Token and 'Birbillions Thesis' to Target $1 Billion Revenue

Moonbirds officially announced that its native token, $BIRB, will launch its TGE (Token Generation Event) on Solana on January 28th, with a total supply of 1 billion tokens. This blue-chip NFT project, which has generated over $1 billion in trading volume, is formally transitioning from a digital collectibles model to a hybrid "Meme + Physical" business model.

On the eve of the TGE, Moonbirds' parent company, Orange Cap Games, officially released the "Birbillions Thesis" white paper, outlining an ambitious goal: to build a crypto-native consumer goods company with annual revenue of $1 billion.

Short for the "Billion-Bird Plan."

This is a very ambitious goal. Why is the team so bold in setting it?

That Crazy NFT Era

Back in 2022, the NFT market was in its wildest phase.

Moonbirds made a stunning debut, a collection of 10,000 pixel-style owl PFPs, with a minting price of 2.5 ETH, which was approximately $7,500 at the time. The collection sold out within two days, and its trading volume exceeded $280 million in the first week.

This number is still astonishing even by today's standards. How did Moonbirds achieve this? Many people may not remember their "nesting" mechanism: holders could lock their NFTs on-chain to earn rewards, receive visual upgrades, and gain access to opportunities related to exclusive sub-series such as Oddities and Mythics.

This staking system, placed within the context of the NFT craze at that time, was indeed an excellent marketing case. It genuinely enhanced community engagement and laid the foundation for subsequent ecosystem expansion. To date, the total trading volume of the Moonbirds series has exceeded 1 billion USD, with a floor price of around 2 ETH.

Plot twist

But bull markets are not eternal. Starting in the second half of 2022, controversies surrounding copyright, positioning, and communication methods gradually accumulated, continuously eroding community trust. By the end of 2023, Moonbirds and many other once-popular NFT series were no longer at the center of discussions; more often, they were simply regarded as remnants of the previous market cycle's glory days.

The change happened in May 2025: Moonbirds were acquired by Orange Cap Games from Yuga Labs. It changed one very important thing: Moonbirds transformed from a "managed IP" into a "product being operated."

Since then, Moonbirds have taken a transformation path similar to that of Pudgy Penguins: trading card games, blind-box figurines, graded collectibles, and partnerships with top global toy distributors. Moonbirds have evolved from an Ethereum-based project into a multi-chain and multi-product ecosystem, expanding from purely digital assets to a full range of physical products. The number of unique wallets holding Moonbirds and the birb IP has surged from about 10,000 to nearly 400,000, spanning multiple blockchains such as Ethereum, Solana, and TON.

Think carefully: after the NFT craze has passed, how many other NFTs can you still recall besides CryptoPunks and Bored Apes?

Moreover, the name "Moonbirds" has gradually taken a backseat, being replaced by the lighter, more colloquial, and easier-to-recreate terms "Birb" and "Birbish."

What exactly is the $BIRB token?

The issuance of the $BIRB token is a pivotal component of Moonbirds' transformation strategy. The token will function as an "ecosystem coordination layer," connecting multiple aspects such as meme distribution, physical product sales, and community incentives. According to currently available information, the total supply of 1 billion $BIRB tokens will be partially airdropped to Moonbirds NFT holders, holders of sub-series NFTs, and individuals who have earned soulbound tokens (SBTs) through community activities. Currently, over 256,957 unique addresses have already claimed 419,039 SBTs in preparation for airdrop eligibility.

The white paper titled "Birbillions Thesis," released on the eve of TGE, if you have read the original text, you will notice one thing:

This really seems like an academic paper.

The central argument of this article is that sustainable crypto assets must succeed in both aspects. They must be sufficiently absurd to capture attention, encourage participation, and accelerate cultural dissemination; at the same time, they must also be sufficiently real to convert this attention into lasting economic activity. More importantly, this economic activity itself should promote meme propagation during its generation process, especially spreading beyond the confines of the crypto space. This is not a compromise between two paths, but rather a synthesis: viewing memetic appeal and business viability as complementary rather than opposing elements.

It really looks less like a white paper and more like a research report from a16z, or even a doctoral dissertation on blockchain market studies.

In short, it can be summarized as follows:

On one side of the cryptocurrency industry are memes. They are fast-moving, highly contagious, low-threshold, and emotionally charged, but they also fade away quickly.

On the other side are companies that can survive and generate revenue, but many of their encrypted business models essentially involve repeatedly charging the most active users.

OCG (Orange Cap Games, the parent company of Moonbirds and the Birb IP) believes that pursuing these two paths separately will eventually hit a ceiling. A truly sustainable structure must simultaneously possess both capabilities: memes for spreading awareness, and businesses for building value. Moonbirds isn't about "balancing" the two, but rather treating them as different stages within a single flywheel. Memes generate attention, attention is captured by physical products, products generate real revenue, revenue in turn expands distribution, and distribution creates new attention.

Why is the token being launched now?

One very practical reason why this logic holds true today is that technology is no longer the primary differentiator. Faster chains, lower fees, and more sophisticated virtual machines make little perceptible difference to marginal users. What is truly scarce is something that can be understood, remembered, and repeatedly discussed.

You don't need to explain what on-chain assets are to an outsider. You just need to give them a character they are willing to display and collect. "In the new era of cryptocurrency development, technology is no longer the bottleneck. The key to growth lies in distribution."

Meanwhile, "OCG generated about $8 million in revenue this year through the sale of physical collectibles, and this is only our second year of operation." In terms of revenue logic, Tsukuyomi has already met the conditions for issuing a token.

Where did this 8 million dollars come from?

To understand why Moonbirds can talk about generating $10 billion in revenue, you must first understand another trump card in OCG's hand: Vibes TCG.

Vibes is a physical + digital hybrid trading card game developed by OCG based on the Pudgy Penguins IP, officially launching in December 2024. It is somewhat similar to the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards you may have known from childhood, but not entirely the same. Its collectibility and community recognition are completely different.

Since its launch, Vibes TCG has performed beyond most people's expectations:

• Sold 8.6 million cards in the past year, generating $6 million in primary sales.
• Over 350,000 online matches
• Enter 100+ global retail channelsIncluding well-known card game retailers such as Star City Games, have finalized a partnership with GTS and Asmodee (the world's second-largest toy distributor).
• Launch the digital version on the Epic Games Store, enter mainstream game distribution platforms

Choosing to create a physical card game is a strategy that appears traditional on the surface but is actually extremely smart. From Magic: The Gathering to Pokémon, from Yu-Gi-Oh! to Hearthstone, card games have consistently been among the most effective genres for generating ongoing repurchases and fostering community engagement. Players don't just buy and leave; they continue to purchase booster packs, participate in tournaments, and trade for rare cards.

Secondly, TCGs are naturally suitable for IP expansion. The adorable characters and rich character settings of Pudgy Penguins can be seamlessly transformed into card mechanics and visual design. Each card tells the story of a character, and every battle extends the IP's universe.

In the Solana Birbathon, the team has confirmed that Moonbirds will appear in the third version.

More importantly,Physical cards are real retail products.It can enter Walmart, RT-Mart, any toy store or trading card shop. This distribution capability is something pure digital NFTs can never achieve. When a child sees a Pudgy Penguins trading card booster pack in a toy store, he doesn't need to know anything about blockchain; he just needs to find the penguins cute and want to collect them.

From a different perspective, TCG players are actually the most ideal "quasi-crypto users" in the world: they are used to paying for scarcity, accustomed to the high volatility of secondary markets, and familiar with authentication and collecting. For these card enthusiasts, transitioning from a $100 collectible card to a $100 Birb card is almost free of cognitive barriers. When millions of card holders begin entering the ecosystem through $BIRB, this kind of "consumption-driven rather than speculation-driven" demand will form the most solid foundation for revenue support.

Someone dismantled 277 boxes in 6 hours.

Not benchmarking against Pengyu (Penguin), not benchmarking against BAYC, but benchmarking against Pop Mart.

A recurring goal mentioned in the white paper is to build a crypto-native company that achieves scalable revenue not through transaction fees, clearing, or token dumping, but rather through the sale of consumer goods.

This is also why OCG started benchmarking against Pop Mart. Pop Mart's publicly traded stock serves as an effective measure of Labubu's revenue value, and the specific role of the token relative to Moonbirds is similar; Labubu has created significant cultural value—free marketing, social recognition, and secondary market vitality—but a large portion of this value cannot be captured through stock prices. The design of $BIRB aims to address precisely this shortcoming.

Birbillions' Goal: The Billion Big Birds Project?

The word "birb" is interesting in itself. It's short, clear in pronunciation, and rooted in internet culture. It's familiar enough to feel like it should have always existed; silly enough to spread quickly; and specific enough to be "owned."

The core objective outlined in the white paper is straightforward: to build the first crypto-native consumer products company achieving $1 billion in annual revenue, without relying on trading fees, leverage liquidations, or token issuance.

But this goal is not unattainable: Pop Mart generated about $900,000 in revenue in its second year of operation, and about $20 million in the two years before its IPO. OCG generated approximately $8 million in revenue from physical collectibles in its second year of operation. In the past 12 months, the Vibes trading card game has sold over 8.6 million cards, generating over $6 million in primary market sales. During the same period, Moonbirds actually grew faster than Pop Mart, despite having fewer SKUs, less brand recognition, and an immature retail network.

The core proposition of the "Birbillions" theory is that when these two elements are combined into a single flywheel—attention converted into products, products into revenue, and revenue reinvested into distribution—you can build the first crypto-native consumer goods company to achieve $1 billion in annual revenue. This is precisely how consumer companies have always succeeded: by winning shelf space, driving repeat purchases, and making culture shareable.

This week, Moonbirds officially announced the token economics model for $BIRB. This design is quite interesting, and it reflects the team's deep consideration for long-term value creation.

65% Allocated to the Community: A Commitment Exceeding Expectations

Moonbirds has chosen a rather aggressive community allocation ratio: 65% of the total supply.

There is a key design concept: Moonbirds splits this 65% community share into five distinct incentive modules, each corresponding to a different stage of ecosystem development:

• Holder Rewards (27%)This is a core incentive for holders of Moonbirds, Mythics, and Oddities NFTs, aimed at building stronger community cohesion;
• Ecosystem Partner Expansion (12%)A performance-based allocation mechanism for acquiring high-value partners, driving user growth, and executing regional brand activation;
• Value Chain Incentives (10%)Reward community members who contribute to the project's physical infrastructure, and motivate operational excellence;
• Liquidity (8%)Ensure healthy market depth and a convenient trading experience for centralized exchange (CEX) listings, deposit activities, and market-making services;
• Innovation Reserve (Innovation, 8%): A strategic reserve reserved for the future development of the ecosystem;

It can be observed that Moonbirds' understanding of the concept of "community" goes beyond just "holders," encompassing partners, contributors, liquidity providers, and other participants in the entire ecosystem.

Nesting 2.0

At the same time, Moonbirds launched the Nesting 2.0 protocol, a design full of long-term thinking:

• NFT holders can deposit their Moonbirds, Mythics, or Oddities into the Nesting protocol.
• After depositing, you will receive an SBT as proof.
• For the next 24 months, on the 28th of each month, the nested NFT can claim 1/24 of its total allocation.
• If only part of the time is nested, rewards will be given in proportion.
• The NFTs nested in the first 7 days are considered as having been nested for a full month, providing early participants with a buffer period.

This design avoids massive selling pressure during the TGE while also providing holders with a long-term incentive to participate. If you truly want to maximize your token rewards, you need to continuously stake your NFT for the entire two years.

This restraint might actually represent a more responsible attitude. After all, if you truly believe this project is something to be pursued for 10 years or even longer, building a genuine consumer brand, what really matters is whether the token and ecosystem still exist one, two, or even five years from now, and whether they can continue to create value.

Community Response: Should One Really Be a Long-Term Player?

After the token economic model was announced, the community's response showed a clear polarization.

Some holders have expressed dissatisfaction. A user named Gomie bluntly criticized: "It's no longer 2021. Staking has become outdated and troublesome. Renaming staking as Nesting 2.0 is just a gimmick. OG Moonbirds holders have waited for 4 years for an airdrop, and the Moonbird team just said, 'I see your 4 NFTs, so I'll give you 2 more.'"

However, there are also voices defending the choice of Moonbirds. Prominent KOL Garga.eth (Greg Solano) posted a tweet to justify this design:

"OCG is not the Moonbird team from four years ago. They did not receive any minting funds or royalties from four years ago."

He further pointed out, "You either want to be long-term involved in the Moonbirds community and stay engaged in the game, or you don't. Your NFT is already worth much more than when Spencer took over the project, and in any case, you'll receive some airdrops on day one."

Spencer and Orange Cap Games only acquired Moonbirds in June of this year, and launched a token just seven months later. "Many NFT projects and protocols promised ecosystem tokens more than five years ago, yet still haven't had a TGE (though many have implemented point systems). Some protocols have completely abandoned airdrop commitments and directly proceeded with an ICO."

He believes that many top-tier NFT projects, such as Azuki and Doodles, launched tokens last year. However, for now, it seems that holders don't really value the ecosystem tokens; most people only care about the NFTs themselves.

"Birb airdropped some tokens to NFT holders on day one, then let them vest over the next 24 months on a monthly basis. This is a bold and risky strategy to vest NFT holders, as many NFT holders would prefer to view airdrops as a 'cash-out moment,' selling and moving on. Some people will definitely do that. So I don't blame Spencer for trying to create a scenario where NFT holders are incentivized to hold the token long-term."

$BIRB's TGE is not an endpoint, but the starting point of a larger experiment.

The core question of this experiment is very simple:What Should a Cryptocurrency Project Rely On to Survive in 2025?

Is it based on temporary hype and speculation, or on real products and sustainable revenue? Is it driven by short-term token price surges, or by long-term brand value accumulation?

Moonbirds' answer is clear: the "Billion Big Bird Plan" will achieve both, but through different approaches.

The team is betting that consumer product logic can take root and flourish in the crypto world, and that physical products can create real value for tokens.

The community is betting on this: the team can deliver on its promises, the brand can continue to grow, and the wait over these past two years will be rewarded with even greater returns.

The market is betting on whether this "less like issuing tokens" method of token issuance can truly open up a new path for NFT project transitions.

A year from now, when we look back at $BIRB's TGE, what will we see? Will it be a failed case with a wiped-out market cap, a dissolved community, and a token value reduced to zero? Or will it be a successful transformation marked by growing revenue, expanding user base, and a steadily increasing token value?

No matter the outcome, in an industry full of quick money and speculation, the fact that there are still people willing to take product development seriously, patiently build brands, and believe in long-term values is in itself a very idealistic story.

A $1 billion goal sounds crazy, but if no one dares to dream it, how could anyone actually achieve it?