MonkeDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) based on the Solana blockchain, has announced plans to purchase the intellectual property rights of the popular Solana Monkey Business (SMB) non-fungible token (NFT) collection from its current owner, HadesDAO, for $2 million USDC. The SMB NFT collection was one of the earliest NFT collections on Solana, featuring a collection of 5,000 pixelated monkeys. To join MonkeDAO, one must own an SMB NFT.
We did it. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/GV4tAZDp8u
— MonkeDAO🍌 (@MonkeDAO) April 13, 2023
The announcement of the acquisition has been received positively on social media, with some calling it “historic.” MonkeDAO’s legal counsel, Ariel Givner, confirmed that SOLBigBrain, an active MonkeDAO community member, has given the organization a $1 million USDC loan at 0% interest to facilitate the purchase. Givner also revealed that MonkeDAO is planning to launch its own NFT collection called The Monkes to supplement its funding.
A historic day for @MonkeDAO.
The quorum passed in HadesDAO. With the help of @SOLBigBrain, we can now officially buy the SMB IP. Monkes have achieved independence.
Thank you to everyone that made this possible. pic.twitter.com/rywKDiT6zC
— Ariel Givner, Esq. (@GivnerAriel) April 13, 2023
Since its launch in 2021, MonkeDAO has aimed to become the “premier Web3 community” by investing in and helping to scale emerging projects. The organization has over 2,730 unique SMB NFT holders and hosts community events worldwide.
The SMB collection gained widespread appeal after its “Gen1” release in June 2021, followed by “Gen2” in August 2021. At present, the collection’s floor price stands at 223 SOL (about $5,427), and it has generated over $1.8 million SOL (about $43 million) in total sales volume.
In February, Hadeswap, a decentralized Solana trading protocol, acquired SMB from its original founders and transferred ownership to HadesDAO, promising to respect the project’s legacy. HadesDAO has now passed a proposal allowing MonkeDAO to purchase the SMB intellectual property, including all rights, assets, accounts, and keys from HadesDAO. This includes any legal registrations for the brand, ownership of the SMB website code, ownership over the SMB Twitter and Discord channels, and more.
According to the proposal, MonkeDAO believes that the SMB project and all SMB Gen2 NFT holders will benefit from the acquisition, and that HadesDAO will benefit more from money in its treasury rather than maintaining ownership of the SMB project.
