‘Not Just Hype’: How Azuki-linked Animecoin Drop Wants to Boost Collaborative Anime

Imagine a world where co-creating and contributing to the growth of your favorite anime series is both encouraged and rewarded. Through this collaborative model, new stories can be told, new monetization strategies can emerge, and anime culture can continue to spread globally.

This is what the Animecoin Foundation is trying to achieve. It wants to bring the global anime fanbase on-chain, where creators can get a more accurate view of fan engagement and attribution, which can then potentially fuel new monetization strategies to advance their IP.

Today’s launch of the ANIME token is just the beginning, the Foundation said Declutter.

The animecoin hype has taken over Crypto Twitter’s timeline in recent days, reaching 20% ​​of mindshare according to analyzes from Kaito AI. And that momentum can only increase now that the Ethereum and Arbitrum token are live, as the Foundation begins to implement its plans.

More than half of the total ANIME token supply was earmarked for the Web3 community, led by enduring Ethereum NFT project Azuki, a key early contributor to the Animecoin Foundation. The Azuki community will collectively receive 37.5% of the supply, amounting to 3.75 billion tokens, all of which will be fully tradable at launch.

An additional 13% has been reserved for the Community Fund, which will be managed by ANIME token holders and the future AnimeDAO to support community-driven incentives and initiatives.

It’s a hectic time to launch a coin, especially right after President Trump dropped his meme coin TRUMP late last week, absorbing a large amount of liquidity in the space and causing some crypto teams to postpone their drops. Still, the pseudonymous Azuki co-founder and animecoin core contributor Zagabond said he is confident in the timing.

“You can’t predict the day-to-day events in crypto, but you can build something real. We spent three years cultivating a brand and culture around anime and Web3 – not just hype,” he said Declutter.

“With our product suite and a passionate community, timing becomes less important,” Zagabond continued. “The space recognizes projects that are here for the long term, and that’s what Animecoin is all about.”

It takes a long time

The Animecoin Foundation announced its formation in March 2024, but its roots go back to Azuki’s mission to create an open anime universe. According to the Foundation, Animecoin represents the symbolization of culture and fandom.

“In Web2, hashtags spread culture; in Web3, tickers allow fans to own a piece of it,” Zagabond shared Declutter. “Unlike other projects that spread broad strategies, we are focused on the anime vertical, with Animechain, Anime.com and Azuki IP at the core.”

When selecting the infrastructure for Animechain, the team turned to Arbitrum, the largest Ethereum layer-2 network by total value locked (TVL). Zagabond said the network’s “commitment to decentralization and its cutting-edge technology made it the ideal collaboration partner,” further pointing to low fees, fast transactions and customizable gas tokens as benefits for users.

ANIME will give holders the ability to vote on proposals around the Animechain ecosystem, but DAOs can be difficult endeavors. They can be slow to make decisions, and the collective wisdom of participants does not always lead to the most effective results.

“I have seen how inefficient and ineffective many DAOs are, and I have been part of some myself. Most are bad at getting things done, so I recognize that,” Zagabond said.

“But the anime community is one of the most creative and passionate fan bases in the world,” he continued. “The Azuki community has emphatically demonstrated how community-led events and products can help grow and scale an anime IP and brand.”

He added that the Animecoin Foundation is the steward of the Animecoin ecosystem and will help facilitate the governance process of the AnimeDAO. The team and providers supporting the Foundation have been involved with other DAOs in the space, so he believes they can adopt their lessons and be effective in governance.

Anime 2.0

The Animecoin team has talked about the concept of “Anime 2.0,” or the idea that fans can turn into active contributors to creative work rather than just passive consumers.

“Web3 empowers fans to shape the future of their favorite anime,” Zagabond explains. “Imagine reviving a canceled series through community funding or by rewarding fan artists for their contributions to an IP. These moments of co-creation are the essence of Anime 2.0.”

The upcoming Anime.com platform aims to bridge the gap between Web3 users and regular anime fans. The Foundation will integrate the blockchain infrastructure with Animechain, distribute through Anime.com, and create content and IP through Azuki.

An example of Azuki IP is the anime ‘Enter The Garden’, of which one episode is currently available. The second episode is scheduled to air soon and will feature two of the main Azuki characters: Shao and Raizan.

Zagabond teased that the next episode will be a continuation of the mysterious lore behind the Garden. The production team consists of anime industry veterans, including the series’ Creative Producer Goro Taniguchi, and Kazuto Nakazawa, known for his character design for the anime hit ‘Samurai Champloo’.

“Samurai Champloo was a huge inspiration for Azuki, so having the opportunity to work with Nakazawa-san and reinvent Azuki characters is truly a dream come true for our team,” said Zagabond. “There will be a sick sakuga in this episode, which is a change of pace from episode 1.”

Anime.com will offer wallets with account details and NFT stickers without requiring users to interact directly with crypto. The Foundation plans to reward the most dedicated fans and says the ultimate goal is to onboard 1 billion anime fans by gamifying engagement, building community and offering meaningful collectibles.

“In Web3 we are used to collecting tokens with products that we would not normally use. With anime.com, I’m excited to build really fun features that anime fans will love,” said Zagabond. “That’s the main point I want to make: the future of Web3 is in great products and rewarding real users who love those products. That is our plan with anime.com.”

As Animecoin launches, Zagabond hopes anime fans experience an epiphany – whether it’s helping fund shows they love, or being rewarded by creating art around a project and sharing its IP expand.

“When fans realize that they can co-create the future of their favorite anime through Web3, they will wonder, ‘Why didn’t this exist before?’” he said. “We’re building a future where fandom and culture really play a role. Community ownership.”

Edited by Andrew Hayward