Azuki is a 10,000-piece anime-style avatar collection from Los Angeles-based Chiru Labs. It sold out in minutes in January 2022, became one of the most valuable collections of that year, and took a major hit after its 2023 Elementals drop.
Drop details
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Creator | Chiru Labs, led by the pseudonymous founder Zagabond |
| Blockchain | Ethereum |
| Mint date | January 12, 2022 |
| Supply | 10,000 |
| Mint method | Dutch auction starting at 1 ETH, set to drop 0.05 ETH every 20 minutes |
| Result | Public sale of 8,700 sold out in about three minutes at 1 ETH; whitelist sale at 0.5 ETH followed |
Source: nft now guide to Azuki.
2022: the peak
Azuki's art style made it the leading anime-themed collection. In April 2022 holders received BEANZ, a free airdrop of nearly 20,000 companion NFTs. CoinGecko records the collection's all-time high at about 31.8 ETH in April 2022. In May 2022 Zagabond acknowledged his earlier involvement with several abandoned projects and apologised publicly, which briefly shook the community (nft now).
2023: the Elementals mint
On June 27, 2023 Azuki sold 10,000 "Elementals" at 2 ETH each and raised about 20,000 ETH, roughly $37.5 million (The Block). Holders objected that the new characters looked too similar to the originals and diluted the brand. The mint was chaotic, and a metadata error showed duplicate images. Azuki said it had "missed the mark". Within a week the original Azuki floor fell from about 17 ETH to 6 ETH and Elementals traded below mint at 0.84 ETH (The Block, Fortune).
Where it stands now
As of October 2026 CoinGecko lists an Azuki floor of about 0.55 ETH, with roughly 4,400 unique owners. That is a little over half of the original 1 ETH mint price. Many 2022 collections fared worse, but it is far below the peak.
Lessons from the Azuki drop
- A follow-up collection that looks like the original can dilute the brand holders are paying for.
- Royalty income and mint revenue can be high even while holders lose money.
- Founder history matters; due diligence on pseudonymous teams is hard but not optional.