2025.12.27

Smart Strategy Acquires Azuki — A Cultural Axis Officially Emerges

JAPANDAOSolution

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As the Web3 industry shifts from a speculation-driven phase toward cultural construction, the meaning of IP is undergoing a profound transformation.
IP is no longer merely a tradable asset, but a cultural unit that embodies stories, characters, and entire worldviews.

Since its founding, Smart Strategy has positioned long-term cultural value at the core of its strategy, steadily building its own IP territory within Web3 through consistent, deliberate efforts.
Now, with the official acquisition of AZUKI #2966, that territory reaches a new turning point—

Smart Strategy’s IP strategy has finally completed the axis at the heart of culture and storytelling.

Smart Strategy @smapocke has partnered with JAPAN DAO @japandao to acquire @Azuki NFT #2966 — one of the most iconic Web3 IPs. We will leverage this NFT to contribute to the growth of the on-chain IP industry. pic.twitter.com/KJcdTjyoxf
— Smart Strategy (@smartstrategys) December 19, 2025

Contents

Overview: The Acquisition of AZUKI #2966
What Is AZUKI?
The IP Territory Before AZUKI
Reviewing the Long-Term IP Strategy
Why AZUKI?
The Important Role of JAPAN DAO
Summary
Official Links
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Overview: The Acquisition of AZUKI #2966

The acquisition of AZUKI #2966 has now been formally integrated into Smart Strategy’s long-term IP vision, as part of its broader cultural strategy and IP framework.

What Is AZUKI?

AZUKI is an NFT project born in Web3, inspired by Japanese anime culture.

The series was officially launched by Chiru Labs in January 2022, with a total supply of 10,000 NFTs.
Thanks to its highly recognizable, Japan-inspired character art style, AZUKI attracted significant global attention immediately after its release.

Unlike many NFT projects, AZUKI has focused from the very beginning on the following elements:

Clear and distinctive character design
An expandable and coherent world-building framework
Narrative expression with strong affinity to anime and manga

As the project evolved, AZUKI not only built a strong global community, but also progressively advanced initiatives such as:

Development of original characters and narrative settings
Anime-style short films and visual storytelling
A long-term strategy centered on “IP × Creators × Culture”

Through these efforts, AZUKI has come to be recognized as one of the few native Web3 IPs that inherently possess a long-term narrative lifecycle centered on character-driven storytelling.

The IP Territory Before AZUKI

Before AZUKI joined the ecosystem, Smart Strategy had already been steadily completing its IP landscape across multiple cultural layers through a series of key acquisitions:

CloneX: A symbol of 3D avatars, futurism, and cross-metaverse identity
BAYC: An embodiment of global community, pop culture, and Web3’s rebellious spirit
CryptoPunks: The historical origin point and cultural foundation of NFTs

While these IPs occupied distinct positions, there remained a missing core—
one capable of sustaining characters, narrative depth, and long-term cultural emotion.

That missing piece was AZUKI.

Reviewing the Long-Term IP Strategy

Even before the addition of AZUKI #2966, Smart Strategy’s approach had consistently adhered to a clear principle:

“Permanent Holding × Cultural Value.”

$HOLY: Acquired 20% of total supply, permanently held
$PKM: Acquired 10% of total supply, permanently held
CNP (CryptoNinja Partners): 21 pieces acquired and permanently held
CloneX: #4738 acquired and positioned as a symbol of futurism and 3D identity
BAYC: #2031 acquired, complemented by CryptoPunks #6795 and #3444 to reinforce historical and global cultural layers

Within this foundation, AZUKI #2966 was not positioned as a simple extension of existing assets.
Rather, it was positioned as the final and essential piece—completing the core axis of story, character, and Japanese cultural context.

Why AZUKI?

The value of AZUKI does not lie in market labels or short-term evaluations, but in its cultural nature.

Instead of relying on memes or fleeting hype, AZUKI places characters and narrative at its core—allowing the IP itself to be expanded, reinterpreted, and continuously retold over time.

This is the most fundamental distinction that sets AZUKI apart from many NFT projects.
At its essence, AZUKI belongs to the lineage of anime, manga, and long-form storytelling IPs.

The Important Role of JAPAN DAO

This acquisition was carried out through a collaboration between Smart Strategy and JAPAN DAO.

For years, JAPAN DAO has worked to bring Japanese culture to a global audience, actively exploring practical pathways for Culture × Web3. Within this context, AZUKI is positioned not merely as an NFT, but as a medium for expressing Japanese creative culture on-chain.

As a result, AZUKI generates strong cultural resonance within the shared cultural framework of Smart Strategy × JAPAN DAO, forming a highly aligned and meaningful addition to their long-term vision.

Summary

The acquisition of AZUKI #2966 by Smart Strategy and JAPAN DAO represents more than the addition of another blue-chip IP—it marks a pivotal turning point.

In Web3, IP is no longer merely an asset.
It has evolved into a cultural unit—one that is told, interpreted, and cultivated over time.

Through this initiative, the worldview of Web3 All-Stars has, for the first time, gained a complete cultural axis.

With CloneX, BAYC, CryptoPunks, and AZUKI now standing side by side within the same territory, what we are witnessing is not simply an investment strategy, but an on-chain cultural universe in the process of taking shape.

From this point forward, the question is no longer “what was acquired”—

but how this world will be told.