Chiru Labs, the Web3 studio behind the blue-chip NFT collection Azuki, just announced it’s launching a new NFT collection this week. The mint for the collection called “Elementals” opens tomorrow, June 27th, and consists of 20,000 unique NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain.
The news was announced by Azuki co-founder Zagabond at an event called “Follow the Rabbit” in Las Vegas this weekend. To kick things off, 10,000 Azuki holders were airdropped an unrevealed Elemental NFT that will be unlocked on June 27 after the mint. Holders were also airdropped a Soulbound Token (SBT) called an “Elemental Chip.”
Elementals consists of 20,000 anime themed NFTs, featuring artwork from top digital artists Timugi, Skycrow, Tenn, and Njoo. The NFTs are divided into four domains or tiers: Earth, Lightning, Fire, and Water. The NFTs from higher tiers have the best chance of possessing rare traits, although rare “Grail” Elemental NFTs are found in every tier.
The collection goes on sale at 9 a.m. P.T., and holders of Azuki and Beanz NFTs will have a twenty minute window for first dibs on minting an NFT. The public will gain access to the mint at 9:20 a.m. P.T.
Here’s how the mint works:
- The NFTs will be sold via Dutch auction with the price starting at 2 ETH (about $3,700) and gradually declining by 0.1 ETH every five minutes until the NFTs are sold out.
- The price of the last NFT to be sold will be the final price that everyone pays, and purchasers will be refunded any difference in price.
- Holders who want access to the presale must deposit 2 ETH to be eligible. They will be refunded the difference in price between their deposit and the sale price.
Azuki burst onto the NFT scene in January 2022 and was quick to emerge as one of the most sought after collections. According to analytics from CryptoSlam, it has done over $1 billion worth of trading. Its second collection, Beanz NFTs, were airdropped to holders last spring and have added another $273 million in secondary sales.
This latest NFT collection Elementals should bring value to existing holders of Azuki and Beanz NFTs, as well as potentially onboard thousands of new users into the Azuki ecosystem.
Azuki Keeps Making Waves in Web3
At the height of the NFT craze, Azuki NFT #9605 sold for a whopping $1.2 million dollars. Since then, things have calmed down a bit in the NFT space. However, the slow bear market hasn’t stopped Chiru Labs from continuing to build its brand. At Rarity Sniper, we’ve reported on several stories about Azuki making moves in Web3 this year. Here are some of the top headlines.
First, five months ago, Azuki announced the launch of the Azuki Hilumia metaverse. The virtual world was built by the Azuki community and contains a virtual fitness center, a live arcade, and an art hub that displays “dope art only” from the community.
Next, in December 2022, Azuki released a collection of free NFT wearables that Azuki holders could use to give their PFP NFTs some holiday cheer. The wearables included holiday themes like Christmas sweaters and Santa hats and came with traits like snow, a snowman, a candy cane, and a bell.
Lastly, seven months ago, Azuki partnered with Red Bull Racing to put Azuki #8494 on the side of two of its cars for the final Formula 1 race of the season in Abu Dhabi. The NFT has been named “Lei the Lightning Azuki,” and according to lore, he is a “tenacious racer” that can harness lightning to reach high speeds.
Azuki is one of the top 5 best-selling NFT collections of all-time on OpenSea. One reason behind its success, is its continued commitment to its community. At Rarity Sniper, we’ll be on the lookout for any new reports about the Elementals NFT drop this week.