Founded in April 2021, the Bored Ape Yacht Club quickly became the hottest NFT collection in the world. As of 2022, anime-themed collections are beginning to take over. Azuki is the name.
Key Points
- In 2022, Azuki became wildly popular with its 10,000 anime-inspired NFTs.
- There are some similarities between the project and NFT’s most successful collection, Bored Ape Yacht Club, in terms of airdrops, private events, and ambitious plans for the future.
- As with Bored Ape Yacht Club, Azuki NFTs sell on the secondary market for a steep premium.
$1.4 Million USD
A rare Azuki NFT recently sold for over 420.7 ETH, equivalent to approximately $1.4 million USD, on OpenSea. The sale marked the highest price recorded for the collection.
The NFT in question is Azuki #9605 and is considered the second-rarest member of the Azuki NFT collection. According to OpenSea, the piece was bought by user “jdizzles” and the seller, “trevault,” is a member of RedBeanDAO and frequently purchases Azuki NFTs.
Cartoon monkeys and pixelated Punks aren’t the only sought-after avatar collectibles in the Metaverse today—NFT enthusiasts are also shelling out big bucks on anime-inspired artwork for their online identities.
Since the NFT avatar scene exploded in 2021, many collections have come and passed. A few, however, have grown to become so-called “blue chips,” in turn attracting huge interest and hefty price tags on the secondary market. Though there’s no formula for what makes a winning NFT project, the leaders in the space all thrived by building passionate communities and executing on their roadmaps.
The Azuki collection was first launched this January by a Los Angeles-based startup called Chiru Labs. It features 10,000 unique anime avatars that give owners access to The Garden, described as “a corner of the internet where art, community and culture fuse to create magic.” Azuki quickly became one of the most sought-after NFT collections on the metaverse and recently surpassed the $500 million USD sales volume on OpenSea, becoming one of the first anime-themed projects to go mainstream.