AzukiDAO Votes on 'Reclaim' of 20K Ether After Botched Elementals NFT Mint

A group of holders of Azuki non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is voting for the return of nearly 20,000 ether a week after the Elementals NFT mint, citing reasons ranging from disappointment with the collection to alleging the team to have “blatantly scammed” purchasers.

The vote proposes to allocate any funds retrieved back to a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) to “promote the growth of the entire Azuki community” such as providing rewards and incentives for artists, content creators and builders. The newly formed DAO had 72 members as of Monday, with just 36 votes on the proposal, and nearly 40% of the “yes” votes coming from a single holder.

Chiru Labs, the company behind the Azuki NFT, last week released Elementals as an add-on to the Azuki ecosystem and raked in $38 million worth of ether in 15 minutes. The collection, however, was slammed by holders and market watchers.

Community reactions had a common thread: That some of the new NFTs looked too similar to the Azuki collection, released February 2022, despite Elementals having a different branding story. The floor price of the Azuki tanked by nearly 50% and Chiru Labs is now taking steps to correct its mistakes.

But some Azuki DAO members seem to want their money back. A proposal floated over the weekend saw 88% of voters in favor of a plan for the money sent to the Elementals mint to be returned to users instead of getting newer NFTs.

“We have provided support to Azuki during its highs and lows. We have contributed to building a sub-community and promoting the brand in various ways,” DAO members wrote in the Friday proposal. “Despite our efforts, we have only been given a similar profile picture to that of the original Azuki holders, and nothing more. The team is blatantly scamming us with empathy checks and promises.”

The members proposed hiring a lawyer to take legal action against Azuki creator “Zagabond” for allegedly “rugging” multiple projects. A rug pull occurs when a developer or creator promotes a project such as a new coin or NFT release and then disappears with investor money.

Some crypto enthusiasts on Twitter, however, have questioned the authenticity of AzukiDAO and its intent.

“Most Azuki holders have never heard of this group and assume it’s either fake or a group with malicious intent,” tweeted Nfty Finance founder @Tytaninc. “The token for voting was minted two days ago sooo there’s that,” they added.

In a Twitter message to CoinDesk, AzukiDAO said it was made up of ex-core contributors to Azuki and that it was made of a group of “diamond handed” NFT holders.”

The group further added its proposal may “force zagabond to do something positive.”