Chiru Labs, the creator of the Azuki non-fungible token (NFT) collection, is facing backlash from the community due to the release of Elementals.
Chiru Labs released Azuki Elementals on Tuesday, but they are almost copycats of the original Azuki NFTs. The Azuki Elemental pre-sale received a lot of interest from the community, but when the artwork was unveiled, the community felt it was too similar to the original Azuki collection.
Bottom price of Azuki NFTs crashed 28% after Elementals release
The community has unleashed its fury, with economist Alex Krüger lashing out on Twitter:
“The Azuki team made $40 million by launching Azuki Elementals and repurposing old artwork for it. How is this even legal?”
One community member sarcastically wrote, “first time I’ve seen the original team release their own first copy.”
A Twitter user points out the difference, or rather the lack thereof, between an Azuki and an Elemental. Source: Twitter
The launch mishap and severe criticism from the community led to the bottom price of the Azuki NFT plummeting. According to CoinGecko, the bottom price is around 9.91 Ethereum (ETH), down more than 28%.
Bottom price of Azuki crashed 28%. Source: CoinGecko
The apology
After heavy backlash, Azuki wrote a Twitter thread apologizing to the community. It wrote:
“This time we missed the mark.
We hear you – the coining process was hectic, the PFPs feel similar and, even worse, diluting for Azuki.
However, many members of the community still call it a bad decision by the community to release the exact same art, diluting the main collection.
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The community’s frustration persists, despite the apologies. Source: Twitter