The Azuki NFT recently sold for a record-breaking $1.42 million worth of Ethereum, giving it an edge over the highly famous Bored Ape Yacht Club. Although it was just released in January 2022, it is already a leading project in the NFT market. The latest sale was done at OpenSea, a leading NFT marketplace with billions of dollars in its trading volume as of January 2022.

Ethereum-Based NFT Project Sold for $1.42 Million

Azuki, which debuted in January, made its first secondary sale late last night and surpassed the $1 million mark, surprising the NFT community. The Ethereum-based profile picture project is the most popular NFT project right now, especially regarding its total trading volume.

This new milestone was achieved by the Azuki #9605 being sold for 420.69 ETH, equal to $1.42 million when it was sold. It was sold through the OpenSea marketplace, and the price is more than double the previous sale in this Ethereum project. The Azuki #4666 sold for $586,000 or 204 ETH on February 13th, 2022.

The sale was announced on Twitter by the username:trebooomin. They tweeted that the Red Bean DAO members sold Azuki #9605 through OpenSea. This is a famous collector DAO focused on the Azuki collection, and they initially purchased it for 120 ETH in January. The username of the buyer of the NFT is Bitcoin4Freedom, on Twitter.

Currently, the Azuki #9605 is ranked as the second rarest image in the NFT collection based on its trait. But, the first rarest image in the project is the Azuki #2152, as it is currently listed for $1.69 million or 500 ETH on OpenSea. If this is sold, it will surpass Azuki #9605 in sales.

Azuki Follows the Trend of Popular NFT Profile Pictures

Azuki is a profile picture NFT project with 10,000 avatars in the collection, and each avatar features visual elements and a random series of traits. It follows the same concept as popular NFT projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks, but its anime-inspired design is what sets it apart.

Profile pictures have become a popular trend in the NFT space, with very high demand. After this, what follows are sports collectibles and interactive video game items. The extensive NFT industry increased to a trading volume worth $25 billion as of 2021.

Azuki is a creation of Chiru Labs, a team consisting of four builders, reportedly former employees of Google and Facebook. They also consist of former startup founders that attended the Y Combinator accelerator program. The approach of Chiru Labs follows the trend of Yuga Labs, the developers of Bored Ape Yacht Club, although now, the true identities of Yuga Labs’ founders have been exposed.

When Azuki was launched in January 2022, it immediately became one of the most popular NFT projects. It had accumulated a trading volume of hundreds of millions of dollars within a few weeks. Now, the project has a trading volume of $456 million.

Azuki Contributed to the OpenSea Increased Trading Volume

When Azuki was launched in January, it was one of the most popular projects at OpenSea. During this time, OpenSea made record-setting sales, with an increase of $5 billion in its trading volume. The industry-leading NFT marketplace makes its sales through Ethereum and Polygon.

But, the market calmed down in February, as the trading volume at OpenSea dropped to $3.65 billion. And it is expected that the trading volume will become even lower in March. But even while the trading volume is declining, Azuki has remained one of the leading projects in OpenSea.

It is ranked right behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club in terms of trade volume. With the popularity of the Azuki NFT project, Chiru Labs are considering expanding their collection just like Bored Ape Yacht Club is doing.

This expansion includes launching exclusive merchandise and the possible development of a metaverse. They have also stated that they might release an ecosystem token like ApeCoin called BEAN. Investors can expect to see a massive change in their operations in the coming weeks.