When Art Meets Mayhem: Azuki Elementals NFT Mishap

The highly anticipated unveiling of Azuki "Elementals" took place last week during an exclusive event titled "Follow the Rabbit," which was exclusively attended by non-fungible tokens (NFT) holders in Las Vegas. Building upon the captivating concept of the four Azuki elements — earth, fire, lightning, and water — a portion of the 20,000 NFTs were graciously airdropped to existing holders.

The remaining NFTs were made available for purchase, which commenced at 12 a.m. today. To ensure a fair and orderly distribution process, Azuki NFT holders were granted a 10-minute presale minting window, followed by BEANZ holders, a derivative project, who gained access to the presale 10 minutes later.

Within a mere 15 minutes, all 10,000 Ethereum (ETH) profile pictures (PFPs) were swiftly acquired, resulting in an astounding $38 million worth of ETH pouring into the coffers of Chiru Labs. It surpassed all expectations and obviated the need for a public sale.

However, an intriguing development has cast a shadow over this success story. Some holders have begun to part ways with their Elementals NFTs at prices considerably lower than the initial mint price, sparking a wave of discontent centred around the artwork itself, technical errors on the hosting platform, and limited minting window.

The Higher the Expectations, the Harder the Fall
In the aftermath of its highly anticipated artwork reveal, prices of the Azuki Elementals NFTs, which were initially minted at a price of 2ETH each (about USD 3,800), are experiencing a rapid decline. Shortly after the artwork’s unveiling, the prices reached a low point of 1.32ETH. At the time of writing, these NFTs are being listed on the OpenSea marketplace for 1.54 ETH (a little short of USD 2,900).

Striking Similarities, Glaring Imperfections
A chorus of voices has resonated across social media platforms as holders, NFT collectors, and creators passionately express their dissatisfaction with the visual aesthetics of the Azuki Elementals. With artwork that bears a striking resemblance to the original anime-inspired Azuki profile pictures (PFPs), comparisons have been drawn, revealing a significant overlap between the two.

Upon closer inspection, one may notice minute differentiations and subtle alterations, but overall, the resemblance remains uncannily strong. Moreover, astute observers have identified peculiar flaws within the artwork, notably exemplified by an instance where an individual is depicted wielding a magical wand without any discernible handle.

Just a fraction of the discontent and mockery on Twitter

Milady Maker NFT Project’s co-founder Charlotte Fang, mocked the hilarity of the Azuki Elementals artwork and called it “basically identical” to that of the original collection.

The pseudonymous Solana Legend, a managing partner at Frictionless Capital, tweeted, “Azuki managed to nuke the perception of the new collection and the genesis at the same time? Extremely impressive.”

Within the collector community, speculations have arisen surrounding Chiru Labs' release of the Azuki Elementals artwork. Some astute collectors have postulated a captivating theory, suggesting that the similarity between the Elementals artwork and the original Azuki creations may have been a strategic manoeuvre — an elaborate fake-out, so to speak.

The underlying idea behind this hypothesis revolves around the notion that Chiru Labs intentionally presented the artwork in its current form, anticipating a subsequent update to captivate and engage the community. By provoking a substantial pushback and garnering attention through these discussions, it is surmised that the Web3 startup seeks to foster increased engagement and excitement surrounding the new Azuki Elementals collection.

Ironically, Zagabond, the pseudonymous founder of Azuki, expressed that, “Azuki Elementals expands the universe we created with the original Azuki collection…This is our most ambitious artistic endeavour to date, and we are excited to tell the next chapter of the Azuki story using art and technology.”

Joyful Voices Masking Dissenting Whispers
While there was an outpouring of elation as some Azuki holders successfully secured their desired Elementals during the minting process, a contrasting sentiment permeated the air, with some individuals expressing their discontent despite diligently adhering to the designated timeframe, yet failing to secure a coveted mint. Some attributed the difficulties encountered during the minting process to technical issues within the minting platform, while others voiced their discontentment with the perceived brevity of the minting window.

Curiously, it is worth noting that no minting cap was imposed on Azukis for the pre-sale, resulting in a scenario where certain users managed to mint more than the allocated limit of 10. In fact, one particular user astonishingly minted an unprecedented 332 Elementals.

On the other hand, many Beanz holders found themselves unable to partake in the minting process, encountering unforeseen obstacles that prevented them from securing their desired Elementals.

Facing the Music: Embracing Accountability for Mistakes
However, in a remarkable display of transparency, location tba, one of the co-founders of Azuki and its parent company Chiru Labs, openly acknowledged significant shortcomings in the Azuki Elementals mint. They candidly expressed regret for underestimating the necessary time allocation for the presale phases — a decision that inadvertently resulted in a tumultuous and unsatisfactory user experience.

Compounding the issue was the capacity limitation of the hosting platform, Vercel, utilised by the website. Despite proactive coordination between location tba and Vercel to ensure preparedness for the anticipated demand, the actual influx of users far surpassed initial estimations.

Consequently, the website experienced rate-limiting issues, further exacerbating the challenges faced by participants.

Colin Wu or otherwise known as Wu Blockchain on Twitter, posted that “the co-founder of Azuki stated that this was a technical glitch where the metadata for a few tokens were processed incorrectly due to event logs from a data provider that were outdated because of an eth block reorg.”

According to Charu Sethi, Chief Marketing Officer at Unique Network, every JPEG project follows an unrelenting cycle of price hype divorced from the true value and utility of NFTs, culminating in a plunge below the initial mint price. The enigma lies in the duration of this cycle, its unpredictable nature adding a dash of uncertainty to the mix. She went on to cite Azuki as an example, “In the case of Azuki, the hype was short-lived. We've been discussing utility for over a year, yet prominent brand NFTs like Azuki still fail to demonstrate it.”

Blast to the Past
Just last year, Zagabond, the enigmatic founder behind the widely acclaimed Azuki NFT collection, astounded the community by unveiling a Mirror post titled "A Builder's Journey." The piece shed light on Zagabond's intricate history within the NFT space, sending shockwaves throughout the Azuki community and beyond. Within the narrative, Zagabond delved into his past failures and the invaluable lessons gleaned from embarking on various ventures within the realm of NFTs.

The approach quickly backfired. The admission of involvement with CryptoPhunks, Tendies, and CryptoZunks — three NFT projects that Zagabond had founded and then abandoned after they failed to get traction — caused the price floor of the Azuki NFT collection to tumble.

Zagabond made a candid admission regarding his involvement in CryptoZunks in particular. Revelations emerged suggesting that Zagabond had engaged in questionable tactics to generate interest in the NFT project. Prior to its launch, Zagabond assumed the persona of a woman, potentially as a strategy to attract greater attention to the endeavor. Screen captures shared by vigilant members of the NFT community on Twitter unveiled Zagabond operating under the alias "Amanda," accompanied by a female CryptoZunk profile picture.

However, it is essential to note that Zagabond refuted the accusations of conducting a "rug pull," an act commonly associated with fraudulent activities. Instead, he argued that his past three projects should be viewed as failed experiments rather than outright scams.

It is a Work in Progress
To say that it was a disappointment for many of the Azuki holders is an understatement. Location tba conveyed that he and the team felt “gutted over what happened” as well.

In truth, the reality of the errors invites a deeper exploration into the intricate interplay between planning, execution, and unforeseen demand dynamics, prompting a contemplation of how such experiences can be enhanced to provide a smoother and more rewarding user journey. Even at the time of writing, parts of the website still have issues causing it to crash (as seen below).