- On June 28, 2023, the blue-chip Azuki project made a rookie mistake. It launched a second generation of Elemental NFTs with characters that looked like clones of the OG Azukis.
- This is such a rookie mistake — it’s hard to believe one of the top projects can make it in 2023.
- The Azuki team tried to explain why they used basically the same art style for the Elementals: they considered other styles, but wanted “to come back to the art that ppl knew and loved.”
- If that’s the reason, it’s a terrible strategy.
- Anyone who has followed NFTs knows that the cardinal sin is diluting the OG project with a second-generation that looks too similar to or even better than the first generation. I wrote about this cardinal sin in my book Creators Take Control, published by Harper Business earlier this year:
Within a collection of 10,000 NFTs, the ones with the rarer traits command the
Edward Lee, Creators Take Control: How NFTs Revolutionize Art, Business, and Entertainment
greatest value. Moreover, NFT creators run the risk of diluting the value of their genesis collections if they create second-generation collections that are too similar or even more impressive than the
first.
Of course, an NFT project could choose to maximize inclusivity by mass producing a great supply of NFTs. However, that may diminish popularity, as the CryptoKitties’ oversupply of NFTs
showed.
- Not surprisingly, the floor price for both Azukis crashed, shedding 50% value since the reveal of the artwork for the Elementals. On June 30, the floor even dipped to 7.69 ETH from an earlier high this week near 18 ETH. On July 1, the floor flirted with going below 6 ETH.
- Whether the OG Azukis can recover remains to be seen. In the NFT market, a project gets only so many second chances.
