In 2021, Sergio Silva discovered CryptoPunks, which changed the trajectory of his life. Sergio, a former trader at Goldman Sachs and Barclays, jumped from traditional finance to NFT and was attracted by the cultural change brought about by digital ownership. Since then, he has been a promoter in the Web3 field and recently took the helm of MeebCo - the new home of the iconic Meebits series.
In this conversation, Sergio reflects on his initial entry into the world of NFTs, why Meebits remains an artistically outstanding achievement to this day, and how his team is reshaping the future of the series in the fields of art, practicality, technology, and community. From AI agents to physical products inspired by personality traits, Sergio shares MeebCo's vision: to blaze a new path for development based on the heritage of Larva Labs.
Note: This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
OpenSea: Let’s start from the beginning! When did you first get involved with web3?
Sergio Silva: At the beginning of 2021, I was working in the trading department of Barclays, I fell in love with CryptoPunks, bought one, then became obsessed with NFTs, and finally left the financial industry to join Fireblocks, where I worked for three years, and last year I started a social media startup on Solana, which didn’t succeed, so this year I joined MeebCo.
OpenSea: So, your entry into web3 started with collection?
Sergio Silva: Yes, coincidentally, I have a background in finance - I worked at Goldman Sachs and Barclays for 12 years, but it wasn't these experiences that attracted me, but the concept of digital asset ownership and being able to interact and coordinate with people around the world through the internet. Also, the art aspect was cool, as I had never collected art before and didn't have to worry about exhibition space.
Being able to interact directly with artists and the people shaping this new culture was a completely new experience for me. Traditional industries like finance and heritage art are very mature - it's hard to connect with people who are in them, but with NFTs, this is a brand new field and it's easy to get involved in early circles, connect with people and learn.
OpenSea: How can traditional finance help you in the web3 field?
Sergio Silva: Of course, understanding economics and human behavior, it’s a double-edged sword because cryptocurrencies often seem to go against economic fundamentals - at least temporarily, which is why some people think that every excitement is a new paradigm, and eventually, reality will set in, and sometimes, reality means missed opportunities, but it also helped me through the ups and downs, and also, working in sales for 12 years taught me how to read people - their behaviors and intentions, which is invaluable to me.
OpenSea: MeebCo acquired Meebits from Yuga Labs earlier this year. What prompted them to do this?
Sergio Silva: I got to know them through Punks and fell in love with them, and Larva Labs' third project, Meebits, caught my attention that summer. I felt that the traits and character depth of Meebits were amazing, which was unprecedented in NFTs at the time, and even now.
Especially because, as I’ve learned now, they’re actually inspired by New Yorkers, and having lived in New York for 16 years now, I’ve obviously fallen in love with the city, and being able to see such a diversity of personalities, experiences, and backgrounds really made me resonate with the series.
So I was one of the active supporters of Meebits for a long time, and then, obviously, Larva Labs sold Punks and Meebits in 2022, and I always loved the series, so I kept in touch with Yuga - trying to help them find the right talent to join their internal team.
Obviously, market cycles change, and since they decided to really focus on (Bored Apes), (ApeChain), and (The Otherside) at the end of last year - as we’re seeing now - some of those other assets have to go into the hands of people who actually want to develop and manage them.
They called me last December about Meebits and of course I was very happy to jump at the opportunity and I partnered with 1confirmation, a web3 venture capital fund, who provided financial support from the beginning to make the deal happen.
The details of the transaction were: Yuga held an equity stake in MeebCo, the rest of the company belonged to us, we acquired all of Meebbits' intellectual property, including the project itself, and we also acquired the 800 Meebbits previously held by Yuga.
OpenSea: I didn’t know Meebits was inspired by New Yorkers.
Sergio Silva: Yes, founders Matt and John have spent most of their careers here, and a lot of the designs are inspired by what they see on the streets - like the "Logo Tee" (a white shirt with a red rectangle that resembles the Supreme logo), and various basketball jerseys. One of my favorite designs is the full suit - it reminds me of the days when I wore suits to work for more than ten years. It is also a relatively rare design - only 500 Meebit members wear full suits.
OpenSea: Since you started working with collections, has this influenced your vision for the future of Meebits?
Sergio Silva: Of course, the four of us in the team have been owners of Meebits since day one, and we have always had a clear idea of what the series should look like and how the IP should be presented and developed, so now that we have the opportunity to do it ourselves, we will proceed with caution and make sure that this is the right approach.
We have four pillars for the development of Meebits:
Art & Origins - Meebits is a project of Larva Labs and we want to honor the legacy of Matt and John. We are in the midst of a digital art renaissance and we want to work with Meebits and its community to help drive that forward.
Fun & Utility - We’re taking all the learnings from the projects that did well last cycle - bringing people together and providing them with fun activities, for example, we have an integration with PlayerZero, which is a revenue-generating activity we do on OpenSea where we sell collectible wearables inspired by Meebits, and you can take your Meebit and play some games on PlayerZero, which I think is really cool and fun - it shows the future of interoperability of games and web3, and in the spirit of fun & utility, we’re working with mmERCH, which is not about getting numbers in, but about people actually enjoying being owners or collectors of Meebits.
Technological innovation - again, the legacy of Matt and John - they've always been at the forefront of technology, they almost invented the art category with Punks, they invented the generative art category with Autoglyphs, and we want to continue to work in that direction, and right now, that's mostly involved working with AI companies to build Meebits into a vehicle for AI agents, and we also did a birthday art launch with an artist named Noper - he's from OpenSea - that was also AI art, so, we're really trying to push the technology forward.
Community First - This is easy to understand, but all of us at MeebCo come from the community, and we want to continue to grow with the community - supporting community-led projects, supporting founders and artists who are Meebits holders, and turning that into momentum to attract more people to the Meebits community, whether a person has a hundred Meebits or none - as long as they care about Meebits, in our eyes, they are part of the community.
OpenSea: My next question is about the four pillars. I read the blog post on X and felt that your explanation was very thoughtful. You mentioned the collaboration with mmERCH. Can you tell us more about this collaboration?
Sergio Silva: Yeah, it will be physical, so, you know, Meebits - I think the future of them will be like your digital twin, your digital identity, which not only embodies you in the digital world, but you also wear the qualities of the Meebit in real life, so, in the future there will be a range of shirts and hats with Meebit qualities, but they will be physical.
OpenSea: Oh, that’s cool! You also mentioned AI agents and how you got into this field, can you elaborate on the vision for this field and where you think it’s going?
Sergio Silva: So, with the boom in AI, it's changing the world, and Meebits are ultimately digital sculptures created by Matt and John, and every Meebit holder has access to their 3D models that are fully rigged and ready for animation.
We believe that the next stage of AI interaction – at least in the digital space – is not just typing in a text box, but having agents that can interact visually, and Meebits is perfect for that.
So far we’ve partnered with THINK Agents (a decentralized protocol) and are in talks with several others, and our goal with MeebCo is to work with as many great teams as possible to provide more options for our holders - also because Meebits is for everyone.
We want people to say, “Oh, not only is my agent going to do something, but I can see it – that’s me,” whether it’s in a game or in other applications where AI agents are enabled online.
OpenSea: Bits Rewards was launched earlier this year. What do you think about rewards and participation in the NFT space?
Sergio Silva: Yes, the Bits reward program has several goals. First and foremost, Meebits' goal is 20,000 tokens, which is not a large number in the long run, but it is quite large for our current web3 audience.
When we joined Meebits in February, we didn’t really know who else was paying attention, so this gives holders, both existing holders and new holders, a way to raise their hands and say, “Hey, I want to be a part of the future that you’re building.”
It helps us understand who is paying attention and engaging, so we use the rewards program to do two things: incentivize participation, and help us understand collectors' preferences and needs, which we will translate into different types of rewards in the future.
But really, it's a feedback mechanism that says, "Thank you for being here," and gives people an opportunity to say, "Hey, I'm in - I want to be involved."
OpenSea: Did you find the community excited and receptive when they moved from Yuga Labs to MeebCo? Was there anything surprising about their reaction?
Sergio Silva: First of all, it’s very, very positive, and we’re very excited to be honest – the number of messages of support we received in the first 72 hours was incredible.
We’re big members of the community ourselves, so it’s no surprise that there was a lot of excitement, and I called everyone on the team and asked for their advice, and I said, “Hey, I’m thinking about doing this – what should I consider?” All three of them said, “Can I come work at MeebCo? I’d drop everything I’m doing.”
So I knew the community was going to be positive, and I was surprised by how many people who had never owned a Meebit before reached out to me and said, "We're so happy for you." Some people got one right away, some didn't - but the positive feedback from outside the community was really special and I didn't expect that at all.
Every morning when I wake up, I laugh – I’m so glad we’ve been able to start working on Meebits.
OpenSea: I love this! I remember most of the timeline being positive about the acquisition, now, I want to ask a very broad question, where do you think Meebits will be this time next year?
Sergio Silva: It’s not that broad actually - that’s my job! So far, it’s been four months, and we’ve been focusing on a lot of low hanging fruit - things that are easy to execute and that will help us plant the flag.
What excites us over the next 12 months are the long-term things, the Web2 era stuff — like physical products — that take a long time to get done, but right now we’ve created a rhythm of engagement: hosting weekly poker nights, playing games with PlayerZero, giving out Drops, and keeping a good rhythm on social media.
We’re not reinventing the wheel, Web3 IP — especially work like Meebits that brings together world-class artists — is iconic, and if you look at art history, most artwork is about the human form, and Meebits taps into that.
So we're looking for the right partners and the right placement, and we're not going to do a Walmart approach -- no dig at Pudgies, they've done a great job in the ecosystem, and we love their team -- it's just a different approach. We're going to do a MoMA design store approach.
Twelve months from now, I won’t say too much – don’t want to over-promise – but we’re developing a more traditional set of products that put Meebits up there with Punks and Autoglyphs, while making it fun to interact with the brand on any level.
There’s a real renaissance happening and it’s exciting to see new projects succeeding. We stand on the shoulders of giants and we cheer for everyone - penguins, apes, chimpanzees, and the “good mood club”. Meebits is open to everyone, and if you like it too, you’re welcome to join.
OpenSea: Adam Weitsman just bought one of five disassembled Meebits for about $500,000. What’s going on? Have you talked to him?
Sergio Silva: It’s an iconic piece, not a punk alien, but it sold for a lot of money, and yes, this sector cares about volume - this is important, and it also shows how seriously collectors value Meebits’ art, Adam is a patron, not just a speculator, he has supported some big projects and should be recognized like those who buy Beeples or XCOPY, it’s all part of this ecosystem.
We found him the deal - not as a middleman, but by introducing him to some Meebit holders, and after he bought Meebit on Friday, we spoke on the phone and had lunch together in New York a few days later. He is a thoughtful collector and a great person. He has built a multi-billion dollar business, not just a guy who accidentally picked up a meme coin. He has publicly announced his support for MeebCo, and we are very much looking forward to working with him.
OpenSea: Awesome, we just interviewed him and it seems like he takes his purchases very seriously and people notice.
Sergio Silva: Absolutely, he has joined the Twitter group chat and is actively interacting with other holders, and we are very happy to have him.
OpenSea: Is there anything you’d like to share recently?
Sergio Silva: We also have two new products coming out this year, one is a toy - an AI-enhanced toy that we've partnered with a really cool startup that's already had success in this space, and that toy is scheduled to be available in late fall, just in time for the holidays.
The second is another piece of merch, we’re really excited for the mmERCH merch next week, the fall merch is also a collaboration with a brand I really like, it looks really cool, this collection isn’t based on a specific character – it’s more like a Meebits inspired collection, mmERCH is kind of our summer collection (shirts and hats) and this upcoming collection is kind of our winter collection (hoodies and stuff).
We also connect Meebits with other communities, we attend ApeFest where there is a lot of common ground, and since Yuga Labs is also in our equity structure, it is a no-brainer to be there and provide support, and we are also planning something for Devcon.
The NFT community is a natural distribution center for Ethereum. People sometimes overlook this and think that NFTs are just speculative, but if you look around, you’ll find that the two most active and consumer-popular L2 chains - Blast and ApeChain - are both from NFT native teams. Even the art-focused Shape chain is from NFT developers. The NFT community is helping to spread Ethereum’s awareness, infrastructure, and values, and we hope that Meebits can be part of this momentum.
OpenSea: Ok, thanks a lot for your time Sergio! That’s awesome.
Sergio Silva: Thank you, Hannah, I could talk Meebits for hours.
#Meebits #MeebCo #LarvaLabs #YugaLabs
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