Nike Acquires NFT and Metaverse Studio RTFKT for Undisclosed Amount

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Nike Acquires NFT and Metaverse Studio RTFKT for Undisclosed Amount

Key highlights:

  • Nike has acquired RTFKT, showing the company's interest in the metaverse
  • RTFKT is known for its Ethereum-based NFTs, which include digital collectibles, sneakers and avatars
  • RTFKT was valued at $33 million in May, but the terms of the acquisition were not disclosed by Nike

Nike acquires NFT and metaverse studio RTFKT

Nike is furthering its involvement in the metaverse sector, announcing yesterday that it has acquired RTFKT. 

Pronounced as “artifact”, RTFKT has been leveraging NFTs to create digital collectibles, including items like sneakers that can be worn by digital characters. The company was founded in 2020 by Benoit Pagotto, Chris Le and Steven Vasilev, and has received backing from the likes of Andreessen Horowitz, Galaxy Digital, VaynerFund and other investors. 

Recently, RTFKT made waves in the NFT community with its CloneX collection of NFTs, which was a collaboration with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. The CloneX collection contains 3D avatars intended for use in the Metaverse. According to CryptoSlam, CloneX has seen around $81.5 million in sales volume so far.

RTFKT announced a $8 million funding round in May 2021, which valued the company at $33 million. The financial terms of RTFKT’s deal with Nike were not disclosed. 

Nike CEO John Donahoe commented on Nike’s decision to acquire RTFKT, calling it another step in the company’s digital transformation:

“This acquisition is another step that accelerates Nike’s digital transformation and allows us to serve athletes and creators at the intersection of sport, creativity, gaming and culture. We’re acquiring a very talented team of creators with an authentic and connected brand. Our plan is to invest in the RTFKT brand, serve and grow their innovative and creative community and extend Nike’s digital footprint and capabilities.”

Nike is not the only giant in the footwear and apparel sector that has been getting involved with the metaverse. For example, Adidas has purchased an NFT from the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club collection and has announced a collaboration with Yuga Labs, the creators of the collection. 

Projects related to the metaverse gained a lot more prominence after Facebook announced its big rebrand to Meta in October. Following the tech giant’s move, tokens by decentralized metaverse projects like Decentraland and The Sandbox began surging in price. 

The metaverse is a natural fit with NFTs, as they can represent digital items that owners can transport across different metaverse contexts. 

Peter has been covering the cryptocurrency and blockchain space since 2017, when he first discovered Bitcoin and Ethereum. Peter's main crypto interests are censorship-resistance, privacy and zero-knowledge tech, although he covers a broad range of crypto-related topics. He is also interested in NFTs as a unique digital medium, especially in the context of generative art.

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