Azuki is a collection of 10,000 unique anime-style PFP (Profile Picture) NFTs, created and developed by the Chiru Labs team. Considered one of the top Bluechip NFT collections, Azuki has quickly established its position alongside renowned collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks. So, what makes Azuki NFTs special? Let's explore the Azuki NFT collection through the following article!
What is Azuki? Exploring the Bluechip NFT collection with a unique anime style
What is Azuki NFT?
Azuki NFT is a collection of 10,000 PFP (Profile Picture) NFTs released by the Chiru Labs team on 12/01/2022. Inspired by anime art, the 3D action role-playing game The World Ends with You, and the iconic skateboarding magazine Thrasher, Azuki NFT quickly captured the attention of the NFT community and mainstream investors.
Azuki
The collection was sold through a Dutch auction format with a starting price of 1 ETH and was sold out within 3 minutes. The success continued as the total trading volume of Azuki NFT reached $300 million within a month, with the rarest NFT being sold for $1.4 million, surpassing many renowned collections like CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) during this period. By the end of December 2024, the floor price of the Azuki NFT collection is around 10 ETH.
Azuki NFT collection value on Magic Eden as of 12/19/2024
Azuki Ecosystem
Azuki Collection
The Azuki collection consists of 10,000 characters designed with diverse anime-inspired themes on Ethereum. The design style of the collection can be described as a fusion of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo aesthetics. The project has also hinted at deeper lore, suggesting that each character has its own unique story.
Azuki collection on OpenSea
Each Azuki is a random combination of various traits and accessories, including hair, clothing, face, headgear, mouth, hands, and more. Some Azukis may hold a sword, sip coffee, ride a skateboard, or carry a Boombox, while others have special powers that allow them to create a fireball or water streams.
The Azuki collection has a total of 12 traits and over 450 unique attributes. The rarest Azuki NFT traits are Spirit, Red, Blue, and Human.
Azuki rarity classification
In addition to the type, the unique attributes that determine the value of an Azuki NFT include:
Special Traits: Fireflies, Butterfly, Fox Fire, Smoke, Sakura, Fire, Earth, Water, Lightning.
Rare Attire: Golden cat, Golden sloth, Golden red panda, Golden frog, Yellow jumpsuit, Red panda kigurumi, Black oversized kimono, Black perfecto jacket.
Rare Hair: Spirit long, Spirit bob, Black blonde half bob, Spirit ponytail, Spirit fluffy, Spirit goddess, Water, Brown dreadlocks, Spirit spiky, Fire.
Rare Offhand Features: Golden zanbato, Golden sheathed katana, Golden monkey king staff, Golden Katana, Golden umbrella, Golden ticket, Golden fishing rod, Golden bat, Golden skateboard.
Other Rare Features: Red bean earring, Blue bean earring, Lightning eyes, Fire eyes, Glowing eyes, Golden headphones, Red panda beanie, Heart eye patch, Lipstick kiss.
Combinations: Red panda, Blue cat, Brown sloth, Green frog.
Elements: Fire, Lightning, Water, Earth.
BEANZ Collection
BEANZ Collection
BEANZ is an NFT collection of 19,950 PFP (Profile Picture) artworks, launched in April 2022. The collection has design elements that resemble a bean-like version of Azuki.
BEANZ serves as a brand symbol for Azuki and provides exclusive access to the Discord channel, merchandise, collectible rewards, and various other privileges for its holders. BEANZ are described as small creatures born from the garden's dust.
BEANZ collection on azuki.com
Users can combine BEANZ with their Azuki, without altering the original Azuki NFT, or hold it separately as a BEANZ maverick. Like the Azuki characters themselves, each BEANZ has its own unique stories, personalities, and resonances.
Combining BEANZ and Azuki
Bobu Collection
Bobu is described as the "core character in the Azuki universe," who enjoys drinking sake and lives on his own bean farm. This is an experimental project by the Azuki community to revolutionize the traditional way of building intellectual property (IP) by creating a governance utility from the start. Bobu will be one of the first in a series of experiments by the project to collectively build The Garden.
Bobu – Azuki #40
Bobu (Azuki #40) will be fractionalized through fractional.art into ERC-1155 tokens called Bobu tokens, which will be used for Bobu NFT governance. This aligns with Azuki's experiment in decentralized IP governance in a completely new way.
In addition to voting on Bobu-related issues, Bobu tokens can be used to access exclusive channels on the Azuki Discord or to link with a Twitter account (through Twitter Blue) to verify the NFT profile picture.
Bobu's Expressions
The Garden
The Garden is Azuki's metaverse version and is described as: "A corner of the Internet where art, community, and culture come together to create wonders. The boundaries between the physical and digital worlds are blurring as the rules are being rewritten."
Azuki NFTs are used as user identities in this metaverse. The Garden plays a pivotal role in the Azuki community, and the development team is planning to build a DAO with the governance token being the stablecoin BEAN. The Garden will host exclusive streetwear fashion collaborations, NFT airdrop programs, live events, and many other upcoming activities yet to be revealed.
Elementals Collection
The Elementals Collection was announced by Azuki to be launched on 24/06/2023 at an event gathering the project's holders in Las Vegas. The project announced that it will airdrop half of the 20,000 NFTs, based on the 4 elements of earth, fire, lightning, and water, to those holding Azuki and BEANZ NFTs.
Elementals Collection
The remaining NFTs were pre-sold on the evening of 27/06/2023 Vietnam time. To participate in the presale, Azuki and BEANZ holders need to stake 2 ETH. Accordingly, Elementals were sold in a Dutch auction format, with an initial mint price of 2 ETH, decreasing by 0.1 ETH every 5 minutes until the NFTs were sold out.
Within 15 minutes, the collection was quickly sold out, without even reaching the public sale stage. According to Etherscan data, Elementals has generated $38 million in revenue for Azuki at the time of writing.
Hilumia Virtual City
According to Azuki's description, Hilumia will include a variety of amenities of a real city, such as toy stores, gaming centers, gyms, and more. Hilumia was launched in January 2023 to celebrate Azuki's one-year anniversary.
Hilumia Virtual City
The Azuki team said that Hilumia is an interactive virtual city shaped by the community and will expand over time, and also revealed that PBT (Physical Backed Token) - a new product launched by Azuki in October 2022 to connect the physical and blockchain worlds - will also play an important role in connecting the Hilumia ecosystem.
Highlights of Azuki
Anime Culture
The Azuki collection has "made a splash" with audiences, especially in Asia, where anime is very popular
Anime and manga are extremely famous cultural elements of Japan. The origin of the term comes from the English word "animation" describing all Japanese animated works. Interest in anime-related content has spread worldwide and has become popular with both children and adults.
By occupying an important position with anime themes in the NFT space, Azuki quickly gained the sympathy of a large number of anime fans, causing the price and popularity of the collection to skyrocket. In addition, the skateboarding art style of the Azuki characters is also a reason why the project has very high demand, as it creates empathy with many like-minded people. Furthermore, the unique features designed with exquisite graphics and the way rarity is distributed also contribute to making Azuki special.
Technological Innovation
Azuki is minted on the project's own smart contract, ERC-721A - a token standard that allows users to mint multiple tokens at once with essentially the same cost as minting a single NFT. Azuki's vision is to build a brand for the metaverse along with their community, so the focus is on optimizing the contract and reducing the cost of minting NFTs for the community.
Other famous NFT projects like Antonym and TastyBones have also adopted Azuki's ERC-721A. This demonstrates the functionality and influence of Azuki in the NFT space.
Comparison of minting costs between OpenZeppelin's ERC-721 (Enumerable) and ERC-721A
Community Engagement
Azuki's top priority is their community, as this is crucial for building and developing the project, as well as the community's ownership and connection to the project. Since its launch, the Azuki community has grown rapidly, with over 350,000 Twitter followers and more than 100,000 Discord members. All social media channels are carefully managed, creating a very comfortable space for members to interact and get to know each other.
The project also plans to organize various activities to meaningfully expand their community, such as hiring global ambassadors to host community meetups worldwide, empowering artists, and educating the community on Web3, as well as other exciting plans in the real world. In addition, The Garden members will have access to exclusive streetwear products, IRL events, collectibles, and more. The project will also have more attractive rewards for the community in the future. This makes investors and NFT collectors increasingly interested in the project.
Physical Backed Tokens (PBT)
Azuki has launched a product that connects the physical world and blockchain called Physical Backed Tokens (PBT). The project has also provided a completely decentralized way to authenticate and track the full ownership of users' physical items, all on-chain.
By deploying an encoded chip called the BEAN Chip, Azuki allows users to experience "scan-to-own" (via mobile phone) with physical items.
Currently, PBT has the following utilities:
Decentralized Goods Authentication: Authenticate a physical item simply by scanning it with a phone.
Track the Ownership History of Physical Goods: Verify the past and current owners of an item, allowing brands to build product experiences for their users.
Use Physical Products to Create Digital Experiences: Owning a digital token can unlock physical product airdrop programs, and now owning a physical product can unlock digital experiences.
PBT introduces a new aspect to experiencing the new Web3 as well as a product's storytelling. Now, owners can build a digital and physical collection. Additionally, users can trade authenticated items or participate in real-world missions.
Azuki's Golden Skateboard
Azuki auctioned off eight NFT skateboards in October 2022, and the winners will receive physical Golden Skateboards, with the lowest bid at 200 ETH and the highest at 309 ETH. These skateboards are among the most expensive skateboards ever sold.
According to the project, the Golden Skateboard is a masterpiece of art and technology, demonstrating the utility of the project's PBT token, opening a new chapter in Azuki's story.
Azuki NFT Basic Information
Azuki NFT Specifications
NFT Collection Name | Azuki |
NFT Type | PFP |
Blockchain | Ethereum |
Token Standard | ERC-721A |
NFT Contract | 0xED5AF388653567Af2F388E6224dC7C4b3241C544 |
Total NFT Supply | 10,000 Azuki |
Royalty Fee | 5% |
Azuki NFT Utilities
- Profile Picture and Exclusive Community: Use Azuki NFT as a profile picture on social media platforms and gain access to the exclusive Azuki Discord channel.
- Metaverse Access: Participate in The Garden, the special Metaverse space within the Azuki ecosystem.
- Airdrop Eligibility: Receive airdrop of other NFT collections from Chiru Labs, including BEANZ and Elementals.
- Exclusive Items and Events: Holders can receive exclusive streetwear fashion items, Azuki merchandise, and access to events organized by Azuki.
- Utilities in Hilumia: Azuki NFT plays an important role in the virtual city of Hilumia. Users can use the NFT to interact and experience various utilities in this city, such as toy stores, gaming centers, and fitness studios.
- Bridging Physical and Digital: Through Physical Backed Tokens (PBT), Azuki NFT connects the physical and blockchain worlds. Users can "scan-to-own" physical items through the BEAN Chip encoding, track ownership history, and use physical products to unlock digital experiences.
- Intellectual Property (IP) Exploitation: Users can use Azuki's IP to create a world including comics, video games, or even music. These, along with the fashion element, are important parts of building a metaverse world.
Where Can Investors Store Azuki NFTs?
Investors can store Azuki on wallet types that support the display of ERC-721A standard NFTs, such as MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Coin98 Wallet,...
Key Development Team of the Project
Key Development Team of Azuki NFT
Azuki was created by Chiru Labs - a group of artists and developers based in Los Angeles with extensive experience in cryptocurrencies, technology, and gaming, with the following key members:
- Zagabond (Chief Executive Officer): Founding member at 0x Labs; previously worked at Google and Amazon.
- location tba (President): Software engineer at Meta.
- 2pm flow (Chief Technology Officer): Software engineer at Flexport, Palantir, and YC Founder.
- hoshiboy (Chief Design Officer): Co-founder of Hush (YC W16), LVL6 Gaming.
- Steamboy (Art Director): Character director for Overwatch at Blizzard.
- Seraph (VP of Product): Previously worked at Discord, Snapchat, and Tesla.
- Steve Chung (Chief Operating Officer): CJ Entertainment and FOX.
- Liz (Head of Growth): Previously worked at DFINITY and Goldman Sachs.
- Feb Tea (Head of Content): Former Google employee and Harvard graduate.
- Ben (Head of Legal): Works at Fenwick and Columbia graduate.
The team members are all anonymous, which is a drawback in building community trust. However, the commitment and professionalism of Chiru Labs still receive strong support from Azuki holders.
Azuki NFT Investors
Azuki does not have any official investors in its funding rounds, but the Chiru Labs development team behind Azuki and BEANZ successfully raised $30 million in a Series A funding round in September 2022.
Summary
From the above article, it can be seen that Azuki NFT has proven its attractiveness and potential in the NFT market. Not only an art collection, Azuki also creates a connected community and brings unique experiences in the Metaverse. With a vast ecosystem and attractive utilities, Azuki NFT is sure to continue to develop and become one of the big names in the NFT industry.
Note: The information in the article is not to be considered investment advice, Coin68 is not responsible for any of your decisions.
