Following the success of the original Azuki NFT collection, the NFT collectors were beyond excited for the sequel — Azuki Elementals.
However, after the new NFT dropped, the first Azuki collection started losing value quickly, with collectors even selling under the mint price.
It wasn’t long before the collectors started pointing out the similarities between the new and original collections, alleging that “Azuki stole their own artwork.”
Azuki copied its own artwork with multiple imperfections
The highly anticipated Azuki Elementals collection initially gained immense popularity, selling out all 10,000 profile pictures (PFPs) within just 15 minutes and generating a staggering $38 million in ETH. However, the excitement quickly turned sour as collectors began selling Elementals well below the initial mint price.
The NFT community expressed their discontent as the new artwork revealed striking similarities to the original anime-inspired Azuki PFP collection.
Minor details and alterations were the only discernible differences, leading to an outcry on social media. Prices plummeted from the initial 2 ETH ($3,800) to as low as 1.32 ETH ($2,490) on OpenSea.
To add fuel to the fire, some enthusiasts discovered certain imperfections in the artwork, such as a character holding a magical wand with no apparent handle.
These revelations further fueled the disappointment and frustration among collectors.
The OG Azuki collection started losing value rapidly
The issue did not end with the new collection losing value, however. In fear that the controversy would result in the original collection’s value loss, NFT holders also started mass-selling the old NFTs.
The cheapest listed NFT for original Azuki artworks ended up dropping by 32% in 24 hours following the emerging controversy.
Solana Legend, a managing partner at Frictionless Capital, said,
“Azuki managed to nuke the perception of the new collection and the genesis at the same time? Extremely impressive.”
Others have pointed out that this might be a ploy by Chiru Labs to attract attention and that the Elementals artwork is just a fake-out of sorts. They hope that the company will update the artwork, and use the controversy to build up engagement.
However, others have pointed out that the company would have made things more ironic if that was the case, making it obvious that it was a joke collection.
Others have commented that this feels more like the team built an expansion pack to the original product rather than a new product.
Whether it was a joke or not, nobody in the NFT community was laughing.
On the contrary, many are outraged and already predicting the company’s downfall.
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