Azuki launched its third NFT collection, Elementals, on June 27, offering 20,000 tokens on Ethereum via a Dutch auction starting at 2 ETH (~$3,800). The presale opened exclusively to Azuki and BEANZ holders and sold out within 15 minutes, raising approximately $37.5 million — the largest NFT mint by revenue since Yuga Labs' Otherside.
Excitement quickly soured as collectors pointed out that many Elementals artworks were nearly identical to the original Azuki series, with some even sharing the same image within the same collection. Users like Cirrus NFT shared side-by-side comparisons on social media, triggering a wave of criticism. The original Azuki floor price plunged about 32% in 24 hours, as holders rushed to sell amid fears of value dilution.
Technical Glitch Blamed, Co-Founder Says 'We Dropped the Ball'
Azuki co-founder 2PM Flow attributed the duplication to a technical mishap — outdated event logs from a data provider caused incorrect metadata processing after an Ethereum block reorganization. Co-founder Location TBA issued a public apology: "We dropped the ball. I take personal responsibility for not extending the presale windows." He noted that one wallet minted 332 Elementals, leaving almost no tokens for the public sale.
The team promised better communication and clearer guidelines for future releases, and teased a forthcoming Green Bean NFT as a way to restore community trust. They emphasized that future collections would prioritize artistic originality.
Artistic Missteps Hit Other Projects Too
Elementals' ordeal echoes a similar controversy involving Azurbala by Tally Labs, which faced community outrage over poor artwork and ultimately delayed its mint. Both cases highlight a hard lesson: art quality and originality are non-negotiable for NFT projects. When the community feels deceived, the backlash can crack both price and brand reputation almost overnight.
As of press time, Elementals' secondary sales data had not been disclosed, but the incident has already forced the market to rethink the real cost of scarcity and trust.