Azuki launched in January 2022 as a 10,000-item anime-style PFP collection on Ethereum, created by a team led by Zagabond (real name undisclosed at launch). The art was stunning — professional anime aesthetics that stood out from the pixel art and cartoon styles dominating the market. Azuki’s brand was aspirational: “A brand for the metaverse, built by the community.” Within weeks of launch, Azuki had become one of the top five NFT collections by floor price and trading volume.
Then, in May 2022, Zagabond published a blog post revealing that he had previously been involved in three other NFT projects — CryptoPhunks, Tendies, and CryptoZunks — all of which had been abandoned. The community was furious. The floor price dropped more than 50% in hours as holders dumped their Azukis. Trust in the founder evaporated overnight. It was one of the most dramatic self-inflicted wounds in NFT history.
Azuki partially recovered through 2022-2023, buoyed by strong art, genuine community, and the team’s continued shipping. But a second disaster struck in June 2023 when Azuki launched Elementals — a new collection that looked nearly identical to the original Azuki art. The community felt exploited: they had expected fresh creative direction and instead got what looked like a lazy cash grab. Floor prices crashed again. The Elementals controversy cemented Azuki’s reputation as a project with world-class art and questionable leadership decisions.
Azuki’s story matters because it illustrates how much founder trust matters in NFTs. The art was genuinely beautiful. The community was genuinely passionate. The brand had genuine cultural value. But two leadership missteps — the abandoned-project revelation and the Elementals clone — destroyed more value than any market crash could have. In NFTs, trust compounds and trust loss compounds faster.
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