The anime industry is booming, and is projected to grow to $60 billion by 2030. Yet, despite its massive popularity, the Animecoin Foundation sees a significant opportunity to tap into fans who have remained passive consumers of the art form.
Intending to build an open and decentralized anime universe, the Animecoin Foundation has launched ANIME, a token designed better to align incentives between creators and fans of the genre.
Here’s everything you need to know about ANIME, which just launched on January 23.
What is ANIME?
ANIME is described as a “culture coin” that is now trading on Ethereum and the Arbitrum layer-2 network.
Launched by the Animecoin Foundation, ANIME has a total supply of 10 billion tokens, more than 50% of which will be given to the Web3 community, headlined by its premier launch partner, Azuki—a prominent NFT collection and crypto-native IP.
Of the 10 billion token supply, nearly 77% was unlocked immediately for trading upon launch.
When is ANIME dropping?
The ANIME token dropped on January 23 and is available for claim on the Arbitrum and Ethereum blockchains.
Who will get the ANIME airdrop?
The ANIME token supply has been distributed in six distinct buckets, allocating more than 5 billion or 50% of the total supply to the Web3 community.
Azuki community
The largest allocation of ANIME, 37.5%, is set aside for claiming by the Azuki community.
As the premier launch partner of ANIME, holders of all three significant NFT collections—Azuki, Azuki Elementals, and Beanz—are eligible to claim the ANIME token.
Allocations for each Azuki NFT are based on a holder’s “Collector’s Status,” a long-utilized points system that grants users points based on time held and rarity of an asset. This program will play a role in ANIME allocations and future Azuki ecosystem rewards.
Additionally, holders of other Azuki-related collections like Bobu or the Fractionalized Golden Skateboard receive an allocation of ANIME. Bonuses are also available for Azuki’s Gacha Grab game participants and those who held Azuki NFTs prior to its launch.
Any unclaimed ANIME tokens from this group will be added to the “Community Cultivation” basket.
Domain expansion
The second-largest bucket of ANIME tokens is reserved for the Animecoin Foundation and its domain expansion efforts at 24.44%.
This serves to boost the growth of the ANIME ecosystem by funding “grant programs, launch operations, ongoing foundation operations, and initiatives designed to bridge the gap between Animecoin and the broader anime industry,” the Foundation said.
The 2.444 billion tokens from this allocation will be fully unlocked at launch.
Team and advisors
The Azuki team, contractors, early advisors, and contributors to the Animecoin Foundation will receive 15.62% or 1.562 billion ANIME tokens. This group of tokens is subject to a one-year cliff, meaning they cannot be transferred or sold in the first year.
The tokens will unlock over three years, and unlocked tokens can be sold after the one-year cliff.
Community cultivation
A second community tranche is set aside for the “Community cultivation” bucket, comprised of 1.3 billion ANIME tokens or 13% of the total supply.
Holders of ANIME tokens and participants of the eventual AnimeDAO will control this set of tokens. Those participants can manage this 13% to fund community initiatives.
While the starting allocation is 1.3 billion ANIME tokens, this percentage could grow pending any unclaimed tokens from the Azuki ecosystem bucket.
Company allocation
An additional 7.44% of the supply is set aside for the Azuki company, beholden to a one-year cliff and three-year vesting period.
Partner communities
A final 200 million ANIME tokens, or 2% of the supply, is allocated for other Web3 communities, including the top Hyperliquid (HYPE) stakers, users of analytics platform Kaito and its yaps program, Arbitrum communities, as well as projects that align with the Animecoin vision like RENGA, 0n1 Force, and more.
A full list of partner communities can be found via the Animecoin FAQ.
How to claim ANIME
ANIME claiming is done exclusively through anime.yz/claim. Eligible users can claim their tokens via Arbitrum or Ethereum and will have 45 days to do so, with the claim ending on Sunday, March 9.
Where can you trade ANIME?
ANIME is available for trading on major centralized exchanges like OKX, Bybit, and Binance.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
Editor's note: This story was originally published on January 16, 2025 and last updated with new details on January 23.
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