Another big announcement was made at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week: The United Talent Agency (UTA) has signed PROOF — the Web3 studio behind the popular NFT collection Moonbirds.
The news was announced by Moonbirds’ CEO Kevin Rose on Friday. UTA is one of the three biggest Hollywood talent agencies. The partnership brings UTA deeper into Web3 waters and will help PROOF expand beyond its Web3 audience.
Rose Tweeted that the two companies would work together to expand Moonbirds “into a global brand.” He added that the company was working on more partnerships for 2023 that fans and holders should be excited about.
UTA said that they could help Moonbirds expand its merchandising, brand partnerships, and “create new opportunities in film, television and publishing….” The company has over 1,400 people working on branding and licensing, sports, music, broadcasts, marketing, speaking engagements, fine arts, and more.
This isn’t UTA’s first foray into Web3. Under its Web3 head Lesley Silverman, its NFT portfolio has been growing steadily. The agency already signed popular NFT project Deadfellaz and Yuga Labs-owned OG NFT collection CryptoPunks. It also has a deal with the NFT artist Diana Sinclair. Most recently in October 2022, UTA partnered with Investcorp to boost its investments in Web3 startups.
PROOF was founded by Kevin Rose, an early-stage investor in Twitter and Facebook, and the designer Justin Mezzell back in February 2022. Its first collection Moonbirds consists of 10,000 8-bit owl-themed NFTs that have generated nearly $620 million worth of secondary sales, making it the 11th highest collection on the NFT market to date.
Besides Moonbirds NFTs, the company is also behind the Oddities and PROOF Collective NFT collections.
Web3 Takes Center Stage at the CES 2023
Last week, we reported that the most influential tech event in the world, the CES 2023 (January 5th to 8th) would put Web3 and metaverse technology in the spotlight — and it looks like it has delivered on the promise. Besides the latest news from UTA and PROOF, we’ve written several articles about Web3 innovations announced at CES 2023. Here are the top stories.
First, LG Electronics made several announcements about its Web3 ambitions at the conference. The company revealed its LG smart TVs and crypto wallet Blade will let users buy, sell, and trade NFTs on the TV via the LG Art Lab platform. They will also be able to access a social metaverse called Sansar.
Next, HTC showcased its new virtual and augmented reality headset the HTC Vive XR Elite at the event. The mixed reality headset is being branded as a “gateway” to the metaverse. It currently costs $1,099 and lets users enter HTC’s version of the metaverse — the Viverse.
Finally, Mastercard announced it is partnering with Polygon to launch a Web3 music incubator program. The program will select five people in the music industry and introduce them to Web3 via classes on minting NFTs, establishing community, and representing yourself in the metaverse.
For holders and fans of Moonbirds and PROOF, the partnership with United Talent Agency is a big deal. And for Web3 fans in general, this year’s Consumer Electronics Show has proven to be all that was expected: another bullish sign for Web3 and the metaverse.