While CryptoPunks are considered to be the OGs of the NFT space, BAYC has found an ardent fan-following among the who’s who of the music and sports industries.
With stars like Justin Bieber, Snoop Dogg, and even football legends such as Leo Messi becoming owners of million-dollar NFTs, the hype and price of non-fungible tokens don’t seem to be falling anytime soon.
One might argue that iconic NFT collections such as CryptoPunks were launched much earlier and this is why they have amassed immense value over the years. But some NFT projects such as Azuki managed within months to see higher sales volume stats than the OGs.
In this guide we’ll review the Azuki project and give our price predictions for future years.
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product.
What are Azuki NFTs?
Azuki NFTs officially entered the metaverse on January 12, 2022, when a group of four people based out of Los Angeles, released 8,700 Azuki NFTs, for sale to the general public.
The anime-style characters were termed as Azukis and were listed at an initial purchase price of 3,400 USD.
Azukis are a collection of 10,000 anime-style avatars
In a possibly unprecedented and maybe even a historic event, every single of those 8,700 NFTs got sold out; not in weeks, not days, not even in hours.
The first batch of 8,700 Azuki NFTs sold out within four minutes. That was one of the quickest $29 million transactions in NFT launch sales history.
Azuki NFT Collection
A few days later, some more Azuki NFTs in the collection raked in $2million at a private offering. Then four weeks later, around February 15, Azukis surpassed the GOATs like CryptoPunks and Bored Apes with an overall sales volume of a record $300 million.
Although CryptoPunks and BAYC, both have a lifetime trading volume of an astronomical 1 billion USD and are the top 2 steps on the all-time trading volume podium, Azukis made quite a mark notching $300 million in just 30 days.
The Azukis call themselves the “skaters of the internet” and its makers reportedly want Azuki to eventually be developed into an animated series, launch Azuki games, and produce exclusive merchandise as well.
How many Azuki NFTs are there?
Azukis are a collection of 10,000 avatars developed by the Metaverse community. Designed by Chiru Labs, the startup behind Azukis, it is an NFT collection of anime-like “skateboarder” avatars.
As for the perks, owners of an Azuki NFT are granted membership access to a unique metaverse termed as “The Garden” and receive exclusive streetwear collaborations, NFT drops, live events, and many more experiences.
The most expensive Azukis are selling for around half a million dollars
The Garden is a place in the metaverse for builders, artists, and web3 wizards to connect and enable greater participation in the metaverse ecosystem. Community ownership in Azuki will also let owners experience a new class of media that has not yet been explored.
Azuki Price right now
When they were launched, the anime-style characters known as Azukis were priced at $3,400 per unit. Barely a month and a half later, Azukis’ most expensive NFTs were fetching around a half-million. Even the low-range ones had been selling for about $40,000.
The buzz around Azukis, at the moment, seems to have faded slightly, although NFTpricefloor.com still ranks them #8 by their metric of floor cap. As with any other cryptocurrency or NFT project, prices are volatile.
Azuki Floor Price
The floor price of Azuki at present is 9.3 ETH or $23,904. This means that potential buyers can own an Azuki NFT for 9.3 Ethereum. It is the cheapest price to get in on the Azuki project.
There is one less popular and perhaps less effective way to buy an NFT, at a price even lower than the floor price. At OpenSea, the bidding process is similar to that of eBay – interested buyers can make bids or offers which are time-sensitive and at any price. Even if the floor price of Azukis is 9.3 ETH, you can still go ahead and make an offer for let’s say 5 ETH.
Stats about Azuki sales and average price
Obviously, though, the chances of your bid getting accepted are rather slim. Of course, why would someone who has already listed their NFT at the lowest price among other sellers within the same project, accept an offer which is even lower?
Buyers should practice caution and not fall prey to just one metric when it comes to buying an NFT, especially a high valued one.
Often, a single metric isn’t enough to correctly gauge the real-world value of an asset. Even factors such as utility and hype play an important part in deciding the value of an NFT.
Most importantly, prospective buyers should remember that in the NFT-world, the cheapest isn’t necessarily the best. A floor price also represents the weakest seller in the market, who is willing to undercut other sellers at the lowest price.
Quite often, NFTs within a project being sold either at floor price or close to it, do not have the unique traits or bespoke features like their million-dollar siblings. Such NFTs, as a result, may not have any additional value.
With 43 sales and a trading volume of $1,114,328 in the last 24 hours, the current floor price of Azuki is 24,386 USD.
While the highest Azuki in the last seven days was sold for $259,083, the lowest one in the past week went for $17,347. The Azuki project is currently ranked at sixth spot on NFT Price Floor and has a floor cap of $243,864,050.
The value of Azuki – why is it high?
Azukis have now raked in close to $350 million in transaction volume across many prominent NFT marketplaces.
Overall sales of Azuki NFTs have comfortably overtaken some of the older, more popular tokens like the Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks, in the last 30 days. Azukis are now the eighth-most traded NFTs, one of the best NFTs of all time in trading volume terms.
And it’s not just the initial sale where the monetization of Azuki ends. The startup behind Azukis, which is Chiru Labs, earns a 5% royalty on resale of every Azuki NFT.
This translates into an additional profit of 15 million USD that the developers have raked in via royalties. Not to forget, that this is apart from the $31 million it amassed in the initial Azuki offering.
A recent industry survey has revealed that more than a thousand NFT collections are being launched every month right now. But why only a handful garner millions while most of them become lost and forgotten?
Some investors reckon that the quality of Azukis is relatively superior to the rest. Others think the sophisticated filters to sort NFTs by criteria such as type of hat, facial expressions, etc. available in the gallery on Azuki’s website, make some difference.
Arnold Tsang, one of the founders of Chiru Labs, which created the Azukis, believes that “the rebellious culture of skateboarders” is the USP of their project and what connects with the crypto and NFT enthusiasts.
The Azukis have even left behind CryptoPunks and the Bored Ape Yacht Club
But one of the most significant reasons perhaps for the rise in interest for Azukis is the unquenched demand for anime art.
Online streaming giant Netflix has amped up its anime content in the last few years. Towards the end of 2020, it also revealed that almost 100 million households had watched an anime show on Netflix between October ’19 to September ’20.
Then in August 2021, an anime-style NFT collection, known as the “oN1 Force” arrived in the NFT space with an average price of $1,500. Within two weeks of its launch, the average price of an 0N1 NFT surged from $1,500 to $30,000. Unfortunately, the project lost both interest as well as value soon after.
The future aim of Chiru Labs is to build a sustainable business and it will try to achieve that by relying heavily on the Azuki brand. In order to accomplish their vision, Chiru must come up with a plan to open up new revenue sources beyond Azukis’ royalties. Working in the same direction, Azuki launched their clothing line last month, debuting with red jackets.
This seems to be the beginning of the alternate dimension much needed for Chiru’s business expansion plan. Can Hollywood and popular TV shows be the next hot destination for Azukis? For a project minting $40 million from thin air and that too within weeks of launching, no feat is too big.
Azuki Price Prediction 2022
Right now, Azuki is facing a tough time being at par with other projects in its league such as CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club.
The AZUKI has fallen by almost 10.4% in the past 7 days. It is still showing risking framing segments for a few days. Despite having a large trading volume in the past, it is not likely to be a profitable asset in the short term.
In the long run, though, Azuki’s value is expected to increase as the shortage is likely to drive the prices up. Most experts believe the AZUKI is expected to reach a maximum price of $0.037 by the end of 2022. Azuki entered March at $0.030 and is predicted to close the month at $0.0258.
The maximum forecasted AZUKI price for this month is $0.0301, while the lowest forecast is of $0.0204.
Azukis have seen a significant drop in prices recently
According to OpenSea, Azuki has pocketed close to $350 million in total sales volume, since its launch on January 11, 2022. While the average number of daily Azuki sales has gone down by around 66%, Azuki’s average sale price has increased significantly.
Despite the fall in average sales and volume, Azuki’s average sales price has risen by nearly 40% in around one month. This trend suggests that there are still many enthusiasts willing to shell out handsome amounts to own these anime-inspired NFTs.
How to Buy an Azuki NFT
NFTs be transacted via blockchain technology on special platforms such as Binance, Coinbase, and eToro. The AZUKI NFT, which has been listed on a number of crypto exchanges, cannot be directly purchased with fiat currency, as with major cryptocurrencies.
This is why, in order to purchase an Azuki, you would first need to buy a major cryptocurrency, such as Ethereum or Bitcoin on decentralized or fiat-to-crypto exchanges. Only then would you be able to move on to an exchange that offers to trade Azuki.
While most NFTs are bought and sold using either Bitcoin or Ether, the latter seems to be the preferred choice when it comes to Azuki trading.
Step 1 – Open an account on eToro
For buying Ethereum, you will need to create an eToro account if you don’t have one already. To create an eToro account, users would be required to provide their email id and click on “Get Started”.
Make sure the name you provide on eToro is your real name, as it will be used for account verification by eToro. Thereafter, you need to pick a password, which obviously should be strong to avoid your account getting hacked.
After setting up your account, you will receive a confirmation email to verify and activate your eToro account. After clicking on the link provided, you will be asked to provide a legit mobile number to establish two-factor authentication on your account.
This helps add an additional layer of security to your account and is highly recommended to keep it turned on always.
Step 2: Verify your eToro account and add funds
The last step is the KYC or Know Your Customer process wherein your identity will be verified by the regulatory authorities. As the process is now fully automated, it should not take more than 15-minutes to complete.
Once the KYC process is over, you would need to add a payment mode to buy Ether. You can either choose a bank transfer method or provide a credit/debit card. In the case of cards, a higher transaction fee will be levied but the transaction will be faster.
Whereas a bank transfer is usually slower but also cheaper, it largely depends on the country of your residence.
These steps would complete your account set-up process and after doing this, you can create a wallet on eToro website.
Step 3 – Open an eToro wallet
To buy Ether, you would first need to have a self-custody crypto wallet. The eToro wallet is one of the most popular options to purchase NFTs and is available as both, a mobile app and a browser extension.
eToro wallet
Step 4 – Buy Ethereum
Moving on to the next step, you will need to buy Ethereum.
Search for ‘Ethereum’ on the eToro website search bar and click on the “Trade” button on the top left. After doing this, you can confirm your transaction and complete your crypto purchase.
Ethereum price chart on eToro
Step 5: Connect your wallet to an NFT Marketplace
Now that you have purchased ETH and set up your eToro wallet as well, it is time to head to an NFT marketplace that offers Azuki NFTs and buy one using Ethereum.
Where to Buy Azuki NFTs?
Azuki NFTs are listed for sale on Opensea.io and NFTrade.com.
Select the Azuki NFT and input the amount of ETH you want to exchange it for. Make sure you leave sufficient ETH for “gas” or transaction fees. Simply follow the instructions on the screen that follow and confirm your purchase.
Congratulations. You are now a privileged member of the Azuki club and “The Garden” metaverse as well.
See our list of NFT marketplaces for some more affordable options for NFTs if you’re on a budget.
Buying Azuki NFT on Opensea
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product.
What’s Next for Azuki NFTs?
The commanding position of Azukis can be estimated from the fact that these anime-based NFTs are competing with Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks for seizing the top spot among NFT collections. Azuki, a new anime NFT collection, debuted recently this year and has already sold more than $300 million in its first 30 days.
During their launch, these anime-based NFTs were valued at $3,400 apiece, and within no time, the collection made about $29 million in sales. The most expensive Azukis now cost half a million dollars, while the cheapest ones cost $36,000 – showing the ROI of investing in NFTs.
Chiru Labs, the company behind Azuki, receives a 5% fee on every Azuki NFT resale, bringing its total royalties to $15 million; apart from this, the startup has already received more than $31 million from the initial Azukis selling. It’s now the eighth highest traded collection worldwide, according to OpenSea, with ether sales reaching $344 million.
Azuki is expected to feature an animated series, games, and goods in the future, according to the creators. Azuki ownership grants access to rare drops and experiences and also a metaverse known as “The Garden.” Azuki is creating a unique brand for the Metaverse, and they need the users to take the lead, which they appear to be doing admirably.
The barriers between the physical and digital worlds are clearly blurring, and Azuki bearers are preparing for what is to come.
Are Azukis the Best NFT to Buy in 2022?
Within a few months of its launch, Azuki has been able to dominate the NFT market with its sales and sales volume. Considering its explosive debut on the NFT charts, it is clear that NFT enthusiasts should start collecting Azuki as soon as possible so that they can then claim their desired amount from the prospective buyers of these NFTs.
Another affordable NFT option is the Platinum Rollers Club collection by Lucky Block. This collection is set to drop in March and has a total of 10,000 NFTs. The lucky owners will get a lucrative opportunity to win daily prize draws. The plus point is, Lucky Block NFTs collection is much cheaper than Azuki NFTs ($1500 vs. $40,000).
Luckyblock is potentially one of the best altcoins right now if we look into the stats. For example, there are around 42,000+ members in the LBLOCK Telegram group and the token achieved close to a $1 billion fully diluted marketcap in its first month of trading.
The LBLOCK token increased in price 70x from presale to its current ATH a month after launching on on PancakeSwap. The Platinum Rollers Club collection of 10,000 NFTs also includes 25 ‘Rare Edition’ NFTs, which give holders larger jackpot payouts when winning daily lottery draws. Overall, we consider LBLOCK to be a good investment. Read our 2022 NFT calendar for more info.
There is already a significant buzz around the Lucky Block NFT collection. If you’re interested in this collection, click the link below to join the Lucky Block Telegram group and learn more about the upcoming NFT drop.
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product.