- NFT collectors have accused the Azuki project of “stealing their own NFTs” or duplicating their existing artworks and presenting them as a new collection
- The project’s creator unveiled the new collection, Azuki Elementals, on June 27 as an extension of the existing collection
- The new collection sold out in around 15 minutes and fetched $38 million
NFT collectors have accused the Azuki NFT project of “stealing their own” collectibles or repackaging the existing artworks and presenting them as a new collection. The project’s creator, Chiru Labs, unveiled Azuki Elementals on June 27 as an extension of the existing collection. The new collection sold out in around 15 minutes with Chiru Labs pocketing $38 million.
Full of Alterations and Imperfections
The similarity between the old and the new collection started showing after collectors unboxed their holdings. Some collectors reported that the NFT creator had changed a few features of artworks in the existing collection, such as removing an earring or altering an artwork’s hair color.
ONE IS AN AZUKI AND ONE IS AN ELEMENTAL…. OMG … WHAT THE FCKKKKKKKKKK … I am down so much fucking money man …. FUCKKKKNN pic.twitter.com/KGFyEipXzb
— Wizard Of SoHo (🍷,🍷) (@wizardofsoho) June 27, 2023
Apart from alterations, some collectors reported spotting some imperfections in the collection like a lack of a seamless interaction between elements in an artwork.
I’m afraid it’s only getting worse. #Azuki pic.twitter.com/m3rPVc7bJj
— AN°N (@ANoNakamoto) June 27, 2023
Although some in the crypto world think this was a grievous mistake, others believe that it was a calculated move by Chiru Labs. An NFT collector only known as Zeneca, for example, tweeted that the project was “doing this on purpose.”
An Innocent Mistake?
According to Zeneca, the project intends to use the attention to popularize the collection and later replace the collectibles “with epic art.” However, some in the NFT world like DeGods creator Rohun Vora disagreed with Zeneca’s take noting that Chiru Labs would have employed extreme gimmicks if that was the case.
I feel like they would have made it more ironic if that was the case.
— Frank III (@frankdegods) June 27, 2023
The confusion comes less than a week after Elena, an NFT artist formerly associated with Azuki, was accused of claiming ownership of plagiarized artwork moments before dropping her Atomic Ordinals collection.
Trust No One.
Time and time again, people amass influence only to cash in on it, when the bag becomes big enough.
Today’s daily flavor of grift is @ElenaaETH.
She cashed in on her reputation by blatantly stealing pixel art and tried to sell it for $300k.
🧵 👇 pic.twitter.com/zTmqUydMda
— KEMOSABE (@KEMOS4BE) June 21, 2023
Although Azuki is yet to respond to the accusations, the similarities are so obvious to claim they were accidental.
