Introduction

First bursting onto the NFT scene in January 2022, Azuki quickly won the hearts of countless NFT enthusiasts as a potential new frontrunner of the then-PFP-centric NFT market. Boasting a high mint price and complex roadmap, an air of exclusivity surrounding the still budding project was quickly amplified by the many influencers that labeled the endeavor a hot commodity.

Early on, the project’s creators announced a grand vision to create the largest decentralized metaverse brand — one built and owned by their holder community. But after months of steady growth that saw Azuki become one of the fastest-growing projects the NFT space has ever seen, the collection hit a wall when its creator was linked to numerous failed and somewhat controversial NFT projects.

Yet, it seems even a founder scandal couldn’t slow Azuki down — as the project quickly regained steam, even finding a foothold among the crashing crypto and NFT markets. What’s its secret? Let’s explore the rollercoaster ride of the NFT project called Azuki to find out.

What is the Azuki NFT project?

At its core, Azuki is a collection of 10,000 generative avatar NFTs launched on January 12, 2022. Much like other PFP NFT projects, each token within the Azuki collection is the result of a randomized selection of traits. Featuring anime-inspired artwork, Azuki’s distinct look has been called a mix between the 3D action role-playing game The World Ends with You and the stylistic sensibilities of the iconic skateboarding magazine Thrasher.

Originally, Azuki was set to be launched via Dutch Auction — a style of NFT drop where a sale starts at a set amount and then drops over time to the final sale amount. The initial Azuki mint price was 1 ETH, set to decline by 0.05 ETH every 20 minutes until the price was 0.15 ETH. But Azuki never reached 0.15. In fact, it barely reached the first price reduction at all, as the collection sold out its full supply in about three minutes at the 1 ETH mint price.

Of course, the quick sell-out of the project was likely the product of hype and influencer support. But the expansive project roadmap (discussed in the next section) was undoubtedly a major cause of the project’s early success. Yet, as roadmap promises must all be taken with a grain of salt, it was likely the community support and the capital raised during the primary sale that led collectors to believe the possibilities for Azuki to be endless.

To put it in perspective, Azuki released 8,700 NFTs during their public sale, priced at 1 ETH ($3,400 at the time). This means the founders initially raked in around 8,700 ETH valued at upwards of $29 million on the day of sale. A day later, the private whitelist sale commenced, with an unspecified number of Azuki NFT minted at 0.5 ETH, each generating around $2 million extra for the team.

In the weeks following the Azuki launch, the collection would go on to do around $300 million in secondary sales volume across many major NFT marketplaces. And as we have come to know that success breeds more success within the NFT space, the early accomplishments of the Azuki brand quickly led the project’s floor into the ETH double digits, sending its popularity skyrocketing.

Who created Azuki?

Azuki was created by Chiru Labs, a group of Los Angeles-based artists and developers with backgrounds in crypto, technology, and gaming. The group consists of pseudonymous members 2pm.flow, location tba, HoshiBoy, and is headed by ex-big tech entrepreneur Zagabond. Azuki aims to be bigger than a simple PFP project, with a laundry list of sectors to be rolled out under the overarching Azuki brand.

The rise of Beanz

In April 2022, Azuki rolled out its largest expansion to date: the Azuki Beanz collection. Said to be a sort of sidekick to the Azuki journey, holders of original Azuki NFTs received these NFTs free of charge via airdrop. With Beanz, Azuki capitalized on the need to expand the brand without diluting the original 10,000-supply collection, much like Bored Apes did with mutant Apes and Doodles with Space Doodles.

With a collection of nearly 20,000 NFTs, Beanz helped lower the barrier to entry into the Azuki ecosystem, promising future utility to Azuki collectors down the line as the brand’s story develops. Beanz holders were also given access to a holders-only Discord channel in the Azuki server and will be eligible for future Azuki merch drops.

As the “red bean” — undoubtedly an homage to the “red pill” from the Matrix franchise — has continued to be a staple of the Azuki community, Beanz will likely play an integral part in the Azuki ecosystem. And as the ecosystem expands, it’s becoming clear that Azuki is endeavoring to become an influential name both on and off-chain.

Bobu the Bean Farmer

Chiru Labs created Bobu Tokens (named after Azuki #40, Bobu the Bean Farmer) as an experiment in decentralized IP. The Bobu Token is a governance token to vote on Proposals that control how Bobu’s IP is developed. There are 11,244 Bobu Tokens that grant access to closed Discord channels, proposal voting, and more surprises within the Azuki ecosystem. 

According to the official page, Azuki #40 (Bobu) will soon be deposited into a fractional.art Vault. This Vault will create ERC-1155 tokens so that all holders of Bobu Tokens in the community can participate in collective governance over Bobu’s character. The tokens are only used as an internal rewards system and not for trading.

Hilumia: Azuki’s metaverse

In the beginning of 2023, during the project’s first anniversary, Azuki announced its unique virtual world, Hilumia. Within this metaverse lives interactive multimedia experiences, games, community incentives, and even comics and animation that only Azuki and Beanz holders have access to. Hilumia boasts 10 different location points, featuring a selection of shops and even a skate park. There is no formal roadmap for Hilumia, so only time will tell what the future holds for this exciting virtual city.

Line Friends (IPX) partnership

In April 2023, Chiru Labs announced a partnership with IPX, the parent company of Line Friends. Line Friends features a world of cute characters that originally started as stickers on the popular Line messaging app. The partnership will primarily feature a Beanz and Line Friends collaboration, with merchandise and IRL activations rolling out soon.

This announcement with IPX — a brand that has worked with Starbucks, Netflix, and BTS — is a huge step for Azuki. Not only is it an opportunity to connect with the global community, but it expands its intellectual property into both Web3 and web2 worlds.

What’s next for Azuki?

With Azuki continuing to lay the groundwork as one of the most popular and successful entities in the NFT space, we’ll likely see Azuki and the Chiru team deploying capital over the next few years to help bridge the gap between its existence as a PFP NFT community and comprehensive consumer brand.