About MoonCats

What Are MoonCats

MoonCats are a digital collectible which launched in 2017 on the Ethereum blockchain. The project was a pioneer of on-chain generation, fair distribution, and user customization. This project strives to use its lore and fun fuzzy characters to help people learn about blockchain technology, make connections with like-minded people, and maybe craft a legacy for you and your descendants to enjoy for years to come!

If you are brand new to blockchain technology (and all the buzzwords in that summary went right over your head), start here with some basic vocabulary before venturing further.

Why buy a NFT?

If you’re already familiar with what an NFT is, skip on down to the next section. If this is your first time exploring the possibilities of NFTs, welcome! We aim to be a great onramp as people’s first NFT and help you feel comfortable in the space, so feel free to drop us a question on 𝕏 or jump into our Discord and ask the community, and we’d be happy to help out!

A MoonCat, as an asset you can own, exists entirely in the computer, which makes it a digital asset instead of physical. Because of the technology the project is built-upon, MoonCats can also be labeled NFTs. The term “NFT” gets generally used to describe things that were created with blockchain technology, and grouped together into collections of similar things, but each individual item in the collection has features/traits/characteristics that make it at least a little bit different than each of the others in the collection.

“NFT” technically stands for “Non-Fungible Token”, which can apply to many sorts of things, not just digital, but likely you’ve heard it used to describe digital assets because there was a boom in 2021 of lots of artists, designers, and entrepreneurs creating their own NFT collection to then sell to the world.

If you haven’t yet acquired any NFTs before, the first question you may be asking is “Why would I want to buy an NFT?” Compared to other digital assets, NFTs are:

• Counterfeit-proof: Because every NFT has a long, unique identifying number (like a serial number that cannot be filed off), the real one can always easily be determined even if copycats that look similar get created.
• Long-lived: The database that stores the NFT identifier is a blockchain, which will exist for a very long time because it’s not dependent on a single company staying in business to keep going.
• Censorship-resistant: Due to the open-source nature of blockchain technologies, even if somebody wants to block you from seeing your NFTs or others’ NFTs, it’s easy to switch to a different gateway for blockchain data and retain access to your assets.

These features are baked into the blockchain technology, so all NFT projects that build upon that technology stack get these features. For more detailed information on understanding NFTs as a concept, check out this presentation.

Why adopt a MoonCat?

So, you’re interested in NFTs? Great! Now, why pick a MoonCat over any other NFT collection? Plenty of reasons!

• Digital Relics: The MoonCatRescue project is an old project, compared to all other NFT projects. It was created before the term “NFT” was coined, and was one of the early projects that pushed the boundaries of showing what blockchain technology could do. Who was the literal “first” of anything is a matter of active debate in the NFT community, but the MoonCatRescue project can definitely be classified as historic. Like collecting first-editions of books, or collecting antiques, adopting a MoonCat should appeal to those who like appreciating the history of a thing, and owning your own slice of history.
• Commercial Rights: As part of your ownership of a MoonCat, you get the commercial rights to that MoonCat as a character and artwork. Want to use your MoonCat in a logo and build a brand under it? Sure! Make and sell merchandise with your MoonCat? Go for it! For full details on what you can do with your MoonCat, check out the legal docs.
• Community Generation: The MoonCatRescue project has 25,440 MoonCats in it, and nearly all of them were not picked by the project creators. Instead, those who participated in the project’s lore and “rescued” a MoonCat onto the blockchain chose what characteristics they would have. We didn’t know what percentage of the collection would be Tabbie-patterned until all the rescuing was done. So this project is not just an art piece from the original creators, but has the fingerprints of all the users who participated in the rescue.
• Fair distribution: The number of people who have a MoonCat is broad because the way MoonCats came into existence required the person “rescuing” the MoonCat have their computer do some extra work (“search for a MoonCat” in the project lore. It’s the same as “proof of work” verification exists in core blockchain technologies.). This meant no one person could sweep hundreds of MoonCats all at once and scalp people.
• Poised for the future: While the blockchain technology keeps some of NFT data safe for the future by default, the MoonCatRescue project has focused on making sure as much of project’s data as possible is stored on-chain, so that even if the MoonCatRescue LLC company running the project were to go out of business, you’d still be able to view and play with your MoonCat.
• Still growing: The 2021 era is seen as an NFT bubble that burst. But the MoonCatRescue project existed long before that, has ridden through that bubble, and is still actively working to keep the MoonCatEcosystem growing!

Project History

If you’re just joining us, let’s catch you up on what’s happened so far. Even if you weren’t involved in the project in its early days, a MoonCat you adopt today might have been part of these past events, so it’s good to read up and get to know your history.

The MoonCat​Rescue project was developed and released in 2017 by the company ponderware, which at the time was a two-person team of Ethereum enthusiasts (WanderWonder and Jurfles) who wanted to explore the possibilities of the early Ethereum network. The project worked, and the project attracted some interest. 492 MoonCats were rescued the first day the project launched, and that grew to 1569 rescued at the end of the first week. But the project didn’t catch on too broadly. While some MoonCats continued to be rescued over the next few years, community interest waned and the ponderware team left it idle while exploring other pursuits.

But the MoonCatRescue site remained up, and several crypto-archeologists like 0xAllen, Adam McNFT, ETHoard, and JUSTIN rediscovered the project on March 12, 2021. In a bout of MoonCat mania, all of the remaining MoonCats (over 19,000 of them) were rescued in just a few hours!

As soon as ponderware learned of the rediscovery, the team got to work re-establishing communication with the MoonBase, and returned to working on the project.

The project continues to develop, and the community has continued to grow since then. The ponderware team grew to a team of nine and worked to ensure the MoonCatRescue website was brought up to modern blockchain standards (now that the term “NFT” was a thing, and standards like “ERC721” had been invented, the MoonCat relics needed to be updated to work with those new standards). In October 2022, the ponderware company decided to split, spinning off MoonCatRescue LLC as a new company, with two team members (MidnightLightning and Paws) at the helm to remain dedicated to the MoonCatRescue project, while the ponderware company moved on to push other technological boundaries.

The Collection

Supply

There are a total of 25,440 MoonCats.

25,344 are Rescue Cats, selected by users during the minting process, and 96 are Genesis Cats (Black or White MoonCats). 256 Genesis Cats were planned for release, but the remaining 160 were permanently locked as dictated by the outcome of the Genesis Vote in March, 2021.

We will never mint any additional MoonCats.

Which MoonCat traits are most rare? What traits are most valuable?

For many NFT collections, they get designed by their creators to have specific traits/characteristics be more scarce, and therefore it’s common to ask what the trait distribution of the project is. The MoonCat collection is unlike that. There is only one trait that was defined in the original code of the contract how many there would be, and that’s the Genesis MoonCats. While Rescue MoonCats come in every color of the rainbow, Genesis MoonCats stand out as different because they are black or white colored. There are only 96 Genesis MoonCats, and those do fetch the highest price to adopt, as the community values them highly for their scarcity.

For all the other MoonCat traits (color, expression, pose, and fur pattern), how many of each exist were chosen/determined by the Ethereum user who rescued them. Only after all the MoonCats were rescued was it possible to tell what proportion of the collection has which trait. While there is some variation, generally those traits are spread evenly throughout the collection. If you browse the MoonCat collection on generic NFT marketplaces, many attempt to apply a “trait ranking” or “stat ranking” algorithm to determine each item’s “rarity”. The market has shown that generic algorithms like that don’t work with MoonCats, and what a marketplace may tout as “rare”, doesn’t really get an increase in buyer interest.

Among the Rescue MoonCats, the community has placed an emphasis on MoonCats that were rescued earlier in the project’s lifespan. Those MoonCats show a deeper history and grants big hipster “before NFTs were cool” clout.

But in general, when looking for a MoonCat to adopt, focus on finding a MoonCat you find attractive. We say “All cats are good cats”, and love seeing people use their MoonCat as their personal brand. Once you own a MoonCat, it can be modified (by giving it a permanent name if it doesn’t have one already, or dressing it up with accessories), so even if it doesn’t perfectly match your personal style, you’ll have more options to change it after adopting it.

Acclimated MoonCats

MoonCats were developed prior to the implementation of the ERC-721 standard (the current Ethereum standard most NFTs adhere to), and so don’t match that newer standard. When a user interacts with blockchain assets, they use wallet software to parse the data, and most modern wallets only support NFTs that adhere to the modern standards. So in order for MoonCats to be visible in the wallets of their owners, The Acclimator was created, which gives MoonCats full ERC-721 and ERC-998 functionality. The “Acclimation” process can be reversed; however, if you’re interested in playing with your MoonCat as a virtual pet, roaming around other projects in the blockchain ecosystem, they’ll need to stay Acclimated and adhere to those modern interfaces.

Accessories

Accessories are an additional feature of MoonCats that their owners can use to customize their MoonCat for display. When purchased, the accessory becomes owned by the MoonCat themselves (they stay with the MoonCat even if the MoonCat changes ownership). MoonCat accessories have all of their data stored entirely on-chain, so even if this primary website for the project were to fail, the community could still reconstruct that appearance of all accessorized MoonCats. With the Accessory Designer, anyone can create an accessory, specify its scarcity and price, and sell it in the Accessory Boutique. Once an accessory is purchased for a MoonCat, it remains “in their wardrobe” forever, but can be put on or taken off at any time (your MoonCat doesn’t have to always wear all the accessories they’ve ever purchased).

More details about Accessories can be found in the Accessories FAQ.

Which accessories are most rare/valuable?

Anyone can design an accessory and launch it on the Boutique site for sale to the broader community. Most accessories are “just for fun”, and give a way for MoonCat owners to dress their MoonCat up like a paper doll, to match the owner’s whim at the moment.

But the Boutique gives options for Accessory designers to make their specific accessory more unique, and only available under certain circumstances or only to specific MoonCats. Those accessories act like an award or badge of honor, setting that MoonCat apart from the others.

The ponderware team and MoonCat​Rescue team have created several accessories that do mark specific importance in the community. They represent the MoonCat being a part of a specific moment in the MoonCat Rescue project lifespan:

	“Ponderware Visor” Any MoonCat that has this accessory had an owner who was an employee of ponderware.
	“Early Acclimator Helmet” The Accessory Boutique launched as one of the first features after the official Acclimator wrapping contract was created. This accessory was granted to all MoonCats that used the Acclimator before the launch of the Boutique (the ones who were actively following the project’s latest developments and were ready to buy from the Boutique the day it launched.)
	“Ponderware Gem” This accessory is given as a gift from the ponderware team to those who have contributed significantly to the project. Notably, several community members who created accessory designs before the Boutique was launched are recipients of this accessory.
	“Ponderware Logo” An accessory paying homage to ponderware’s original logo. This accessory has been granted to MoonCats for special events.
	“Community Rockstar” Granted by the MoonCatRescue team to community members who have made significant contributions to the project.

Several projects have collaborated with MoonCat owners by creating custom accessories that reflect both projects. MoonCats with these accessories are also active in other blockchain-related projects:

lootprints (for MoonCats)

lootprints are a secondary token collection that was launched in September 2021. They represent construction plans for MoonCat-styled spacecraft in the MoonCatEcosystem lore. These tokens are on the project roadmap to eventually get built into vehicles MoonCats can pilot, and be part of future online game plans.

MoonCats On-Chain

MoonCats are 100% on-chain. Your family of Cats, however big or small, have found their permanent home on the Ethereum blockchain, through a combination of the original MoonCat​Rescue smart contract, and additional deployed contracts that give extra metadata about the MoonCats.

Sound like fun? If you’re not a MoonCat owner yourself, perhaps you’d like to explore adopting one for yourself? If you’re already an owner, enjoy playing with you loveable pet, or exploring ways to build new tooling within the ecosystem.