What is Azuki NFT?

What is Azuki NFT?

Azuki NFT is a prominent collection of 10,000 generative avatars launched on January 12, 2022. These avatars feature a unique anime-inspired aesthetic, drawing elements from popular culture references like the action role-playing game The World Ends with You and the iconic Thrasher magazine. The project was introduced through a Dutch Auction method where the initial mint price was set high and decreased over a specified period, though it sold out almost immediately due to high demand and influencer endorsement from the likes of Ansem, MachiBigBrother and others.

The project is the brainchild of Chiru Labs, a collective of Los Angeles-based artists and developers with strong backgrounds in crypto, technology, and gaming. Despite early controversies linked to the project's founder Zagabond, Azuki has maintained its momentum in the NFT space, supported by a vibrant community known as The Garden, and has seen significant secondary market activity. This robust community engagement and ongoing project expansions, including the release of Azuki Beanz, continue to bolster Azuki’s position in the digital collectibles market.

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Azuki NFT Rarity

The Azuki NFT collection includes 10,000 generative avatar NFTs, each distinctively crafted with a combination of 13 trait categories and 469 unique traits. These characteristics not only define the visual aspect of each Azuki but also determine its rarity and consequently its value within the community.

Among these avatars, four types stand out significantly: Human, Blue, Red, and Spirit. The majority, over 9,000 Azukis, are categorized as Humans, representing the most common type and are generally more accessible in terms of price. Spirits, on the other hand, with only 97 in existence, are the rarest.

This exclusivity often translates to higher values in the marketplace. This structured rarity model plays a crucial role in fostering the collection's dynamic, as the scarcity of certain traits heightens an Azuki’s appeal and market value.

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What are Azuki Elementals?

The Azuki Elementals collection, an extension of the Azuki NFT universe launched in June 2023, quickly became a point of contention within the community. This collection, featuring 20,000 characters across four elemental domains, faced criticism for its aesthetic and conceptual similarities to the original Azuki series. Many in the community felt that this resemblance undermined the uniqueness and value of the initial Azuki NFTs.

The situation intensified as discontented owners demanded refunds exceeding $38 million, arguing they were misled by the project's direction. This controversy significantly impacted the collection's market perception, with the Azuki Elementals' floor price seeing a sharp decline. The uproar highlighted concerns about dilution and led to a broader discussion about the project's future direction, including criticism and legal threats towards Chiru Labs, the team behind Azuki.

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What is Anime Chain?

Anime Chain is a new layer 3 blockchain designed for anime enthusiasts, developed through a collaboration between Azuki and Arbitrum. This initiative was unveiled by the Arbitrum Foundation alongside Weeb3 Foundation and Chiru Labs, with the ambition to create a singular destination for anime-related content.

AnimeChain will feature a variety of offerings including original and third-party anime content, games, merchandise, and NFTs, all overseen by its user community. Azuki, after evaluating various Ethereum scaling options, determined that Arbitrum, with its capacity to process up to 40,000 transactions per second using optimistic rollups, was the ideal choice to support the anticipated high demand within the AnimeChain ecosystem.

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Who Created Azuki?

Azuki was founded by Chiru Labs, a collective of Los Angeles-based professionals with deep expertise in technology, gaming, and crypto. The group includes the pseudonymous Zagabond, who serves as a prominent figure behind the project. Before Azuki, Zagabond was involved in three other NFT initiatives: Tendies, CryptoZunks, and CryptoPhunks. These projects faced significant challenges and were ultimately discontinued, which sparked controversy when disclosed. The revelation of Zagabond's past projects, particularly the way some were considered rug pulls by the community, stirred distrust and resulted in a significant drop in the value of all Azuki collectons.

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What are Azuki PBTs?

Azuki Physical Backed Tokens (PBTs) is a new token standard that aims to bridge the gap between physical and digital assets. Created by Chiru Labs, the same team behind Azuki NFTs, PBTs allow for decentralized authentication of physical goods through on-chain (Ethereum) technology.

PBTs have a unique "scan-to-own" feature that enables users to verify the authenticity of physical items by simply scanning them with their phones. Chiru Labs plans to implement PBTs with the Azuki brand by using the cryptographic BEAN chip on a series of nine golden skateboards, which will be tied to the Azuki story.

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Closing Thoughts

In conclusion, Azuki NFT stands as a dynamic and resilient force in the NFT field, propelled by its distinct anime-inspired aesthetic, strategic launches, and committed community known as The Garden. Despite facing controversies, especially those linked to founder Zagabond's past projects, Azuki has managed to maintain momentum, seen in its active secondary market and expansions like the Azuki Beanz and Anime Chain.