The ultimate guide to Azuki’s faithful companions
If value were a competition in the NFT world, Azuki’s Beanz would be the perennial winners. While not necessarily the cheapest on the market, the collection serves as a more affordable entry into the popular Azuki community, offering owners a way to enjoy the project’s premium features at a fraction of the cost. In addition to a Discord channel for holders on the Azuki server, Beanz holders gain access to exclusive items, collectibles and tools in the Azuki metaverse.
For many of these reasons, and despite being a relatively new collection, Beanz Project has become one of the most sought after in the space. Beanz NFTs have already achieved impressive trading volume, currently holding the 15th place for all-time trading volume in Ethereum at the time of writing and often ranking in the top 10 in daily trading volume.
Ready to dig in? Here’s everything you need to know about the team, the characters and the future of Beanz.
What is Beanz?
Beanz is a hand-drawn 19,950-strong PFP NFT collection consisting of 16 types of Beanz. Each bean has a unique set of attributes ranging from clothing, headgear, shoes, hand props and more, for a total of 568 attributes. The most famous are the original Beanz members – the red bean, Toshi, and the blue bean, Gus. Others in the collection include Link the Black Bean, Tao the Lentil, Johny C the Coffee Bean and more.
Beanz is the life of Azuki Garden – a private virtual world where “art, community and culture merge to create magic” – spicing things up for the Azukis with their antics. According to the project’s official website, “Beanz are a small species that sprout from the dirt in the garden. They make a great sidekick to an Azuki, although some like to kick it alone. They are genuinely driven by the desire to help. However, certain Beanz a call to pave his own way.”
In fact, each has its own unique story to tell. For example, “Gus can’t seem to stay out of trouble, and “Ash is the most laid-back bean in the garden. Nothing seems to disturb him and he is always calm in times of chaos.”
At the time of writing, the project has registered a total traded volume of 135,199 ETH ($269 million). It currently has a floor price of 1.46 ETH.
Who created Beanz NFTs?
The creator of the Beanz project is Chiru Labs, led by its founder Zagabond and other pseudonymous co-founders Hoshiboy, 2PMFlowand Location tba. The team consists of a group of Los Angeles-based artists and developers with backgrounds in crypto, technology and gaming.
In particular, Azuki founder Zagabond faced backlash after a revelation in May 2022 that he had been behind defunct projects Tendies, CryptoZunks and CryptoPhunks. But the controversy ultimately benefited the Azuki collection. When criticism forced the floor price to drop, investors rushed in to capitalize on the opportunity, and the Azuki community eventually grew by a whopping 1,200 percent.
When was the Beanz project launched?
Beanz was launched in April 2022, and soon after the launch of the Azuki collection in January of the same year. At the start, only two Beanz had sprouted, Toshi, the red bean, and Gus, the blue bean. They were sent to Azuki owners as a token of thanks. To date, Beanz cannot be purchased through the Azuki website, only from third-party platforms such as OpenSea and X2Y2.
Controversy surrounding the Beanz project
Soon after the Beanz project was unveiled, several Twitter users -including MetaMorphy — started accusing the creators of fixing the coin, saying that users were getting their hands on rare Azuki Beanz even before the project’s metadata was revealed. In particular, MetaMorphy points to evidence showing that a buyer had sold four common Beanz NFTs and then acquired two rare Beanz NFTs above the floor price several hours before the actual disclosure was made.
MetaMorphy says Bean #13716 – said to be the 37th rarest Beanz NFT – was one of the Beanz acquired through alleged insider trading. The bean is currently valued at 5.4066 WETH and was sold for a maximum value of 5.79 WETH.
In a Twitter thread, Sted Tba denied these allegations. He noted that the activity suggests the project’s metadata was leaked before it was published, and “no insider trading took place.”
What will be next?
With over a year of experience, a growing IP and love from the community, there is no doubt that the Azuki team has established itself as a brand that is here to stay. The Beanz collection has proven to be an important next step for the team.
Most recently, Chiru Labs announced a strategic partnership with digital IP platform company IPX (formerly Line Friends). Fans and holders can expect co-branded content and merchandise between Beanz and LINE Friends, retail distribution in Line Friends stores, and immersive IRL activations that combine the two worlds.
As the Azuki and Beanz communities continue to build The Garden and add layers to what already appears to be a desirable place to discover, so does the sense of belonging and common purpose among the members of the community. The more Hagen grows, the stronger the sense of community becomes.
