Nike has just sold a virtual basketball in the form of NFT for the sum of 125,000 euros, or 134,000 dollars. Despite the collapse of the cryptocurrency market, the brand is doing well thanks to a collection of very popular tokens.
Late last year, Nike entered the metaverse by acquiring a company specializing in the design of virtual sneakers in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The sportswear specialist has got its hands on RTFKTa French start-up that wants to launch digital sneakers that can be worn by avatars in virtual worlds, in Zoom or Google Meet meetings, or displayed in augmented reality through a smartphone.
A few months later, in April 2022, Nike released a first collection of virtual sneakers, called Cryptokicks. This collection included 20,000 different NFTs imagined by artist Takashi Murakami. The Japanese visual artist has partnered with RTFK several times in the past. Note that this is one of the most valued visual artists in the world.
Nike is a hit in the NFT market
Each sneaker is associated with an NFT. By purchasing the non-fungible token, you obtain the right to receive an exclusive digital sneaker from the brand. In this way, Nike seeks to create a bridge between shoe collectors and NFT collectors.
One of the virtual sneakers in the form of NFT recently sold for the sum of $134,000. The digital work was purchased at auction by an Internet user called AliSajwani on OpenSea, one of the main platforms in the ecosystem. When the collection was launched, the starting price was however around 8500 dollars. Announcements from Nike and its partner, and the prospect of inclusion in the metaverse, boosted the price of NFTs.
“The mechanics around NFTs and sneakers are quite similar. Both are created around scarcity and limited supplies. It’s about community, status and belonging to something”, analyzes Jurgen Alker, who runs an NFT studio for Highsnobiety. This selloff comes as the NFT market has recently contracted. Token sales only collapsed following the cryptocurrency crash. Experts believe, however, that the NFT sector will quickly recover in value.