Azuki Elementals NFTs Rake in $38M in 15 Mins

Regardless of the subdued NFT market and disappointed Azuki collectors, Chiru Labs’ Elementals NFTs raised a jaw-dropping $38 million worth of Ethereum within a tight 15-minute bidding window, preventing the public sale from firing up and causing a stir.

Azuki and Beanz holders were given a ten and twenty-minute headstart to acquire one of the 20,000 Elementals assets before the public sale, where 10,000 NFTs starting at 2 ETH ($3,800) were snatched up in just 15 minutes  — preventing the public sale from taking place. The additional 10,000 NFTs were airdropped to Azuki and BEANZ holders at Chiru’s lavish ‘Follow the Rabbit‘ event in Las Vegas last Friday.

Azuki Elementals have sold out in the presale with the entire allocation going to the Azuki and BEANZ community. There will be no public sale.

Trading and reveal will open shortly. pic.twitter.com/CVk3kRIqU6

— Azuki (@Azuki) June 27, 2023

The Aftermath of Elementals 

Following the initial sale, the team revealed the artwork for the Elementals collection, and trading on secondary marketplaces commenced smoothly afterward. However, the sell-out collectibles were criticized for not living up to community expectations, effectively mirroring NFT avatars previously launched — an unexpected twist considering Chiru claimed Elementals to be its most “challenging artistic project to date.” 

unbelievable… my fire head is duplicated?!? pic.twitter.com/weCyMNyLun

— A-Raving-Ape.eth 🍌⛩️🏴‍☠️ (@a_raving_ape) June 28, 2023

Positive thinking community members swiftly took to Twitter to calm dissatisfied holders down, explaining that glitches sparked by high demand had caused the duplication, which has now been fixed. However, such issues were a no-go for some Azuki fans, including the famous rapper Eminem, who just pulled out of the project for 8.5 ETH ($15,797.84). 

Following the backlash, efforts to satisfy all holders were initiated, such as opening the doors to the Hilumia metaverse whereby Elementals holders can upgrade their NFTs with a new trait. Azuki also took to Twitter to apologize, stating: “It’s always both challenging & exciting opening up the gate to the Garden. This time, we missed the mark. We hear you – the mint process was hectic, the PFPs feel similar and, even worse, dilutive to Azuki.

“However, our ambitious goals led to a new collection which confused the community on the tangible differences with the original Azuki collection.”

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