Azuki NFTs Set Record for Most Expensive Skateboards in History

The Azuki community forked out $2.5 million in ether for exclusive NFTs representing gold-plated skateboards

article-image

Source: Azuki

share

key takeaways

  • The most expensive NFT in the collection went for 309 ETH, or $404,000
  • This is Azuki’s first implementation of the “physical backed token” standard

NFT issuer Azuki has set the record for the most expensive skateboard sales in history — both digital and physical.

Nine “Golden Skateboard” NFTs make up the most recent Azuki collection, with all but one sold under auction on Saturday, fetching $2.5 million in total.

One collector known as dingaling.eth dished out the 309 ether (ETH), or $404,000, in the Azuki Golden Skateboard NFT auction on Saturday. He bid seven times to win the dragon emblem token, now the most expensive in the set.

Seven other winners also bought into Azuki’s latest series.

Each skateboard is adorned with a unique emblem that has significance in Azuki lore, allowing holders a permanent role in the Azuki story — “cementing yourself as a part of Azuki mythology,” according to the company.

The “frog emblem” Golden Skateboard NFT garnered the lowest bid, worth 200 ETH ($270,000). The remaining six NFTs fetched between 202 ETH and 303 ETH.

Ethereum-hosted Azuki NFTs have quickly risen to blue-chip status and are known for their anime-style avatars. The overarching vision is to create a “decentralized anime universe combining the physical & digital,” Azuki tweeted.

Azuki Skateboard NFTs can be redeemed for the real thing

The cheapest of Azuki’s original 10,000 generative art NFTs is currently 11.49 ETH ($15,300) with a market capitalization of 114,900 ETH ($153 million), per NFT Floor Price, about 85% lower than the most valuable NFT collection, Bored Ape Yacht Club.

Azuki’s digital golden skateboards can be redeemed for physical skateboards plated with 24-karat gold, but the holder would have to burn the NFT.

The physical skateboard element translated into a much higher floor price for the skateboard NFTs but a smaller market capitalization than the original collection, which makes sense as the new iteration is more exclusive.

The NFTs are considered physical backed tokens (PBT) — a standard that links the ownership of physical assets to their digital versions on Ethereum. This is different from a phygital offering that usually separates the physical and digital items after minting. 

In this case, Azuki has embedded each skateboard with a PBT-based BEAN chip, a cryptographic chip that connects the physical item to its digital token. This enables owners of the physical asset to unlock digital benefits and experiences.

Loading Tweet..

Some of the benefits include a dragon banner display and a dragon emblem added to each collector’s profile on Azuki’s website. Auction winners will be able to claim their physical golden skateboards in November, according to the company. 

This activity has placed the Azuki collection in third place on the OpenSea leaderboard in terms of sales volume over the past seven days.

Azuki’s skateboard sales surpass what was once considered the most expensive skateboard ever sold — a $38,425 board with hand-written lyrics from Bob Dylan’s hit song, “Blowin’ In The Wind” and signed by professional skateboarder Jamie Thomas in 2012.

However, Azuki boards are not the first gold-plated ones to hit the market. In 2014, a father-and-son duo from the metals plating firm Epner Technology sought to sell their version of a golden skateboard for $15,000, although it’s not clear if it attracted any buyers.

“Please consult your doctor before trying to ride a 45 lb skateboard,” Azuki tweeted.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

recent research

LTIPPanalysis.png

Research

This report is a retroactive analysis of Arbitrum's Long Term Incentives Pilot Program (LTIPP). We collect relevant data at a protocol level and review bi-weekly updates to analyze recipients, their strategies, and the impact of the incentives on high level growth metrics. In particular, we want to highlight outperformers and underperformers, and glean any best practices or lessons learned for protocols distributing ARB incentives in the future. The overarching goal is to synthesize lessons learned that the DAO can reference as it begins thinking about future incentives programs–namely, the working group for incentives that is being actively discussed–especially as Timeboost introduces new conditions for trading and economic activity.

article-image

Sponsored

AI project Zerebro intersects the spheres of artificial intelligence, finance, art, music, and culture

article-image

Allmight is focused on furthering the United States’ leadership in crypto

article-image

The conditions Charles Schwab is waiting for before jumping headfirst into crypto could take shape soon

article-image

The FCA’s director of payments and digital assets shared some takeaways from chats with crypto companies and law firms

article-image

Let’s take a look at how US equities typically perform this time of year and what we might see in the coming days

article-image

Lumina introduces transparency and permissionless integration via an OP stack-based optimium, challenging traditional oracle designs