TL;DR Breakdown
- Nike, an international sports accessories manufacturer, has announced the acquisition of RTFKT studios.
- Nike says this studio will be core in its push to deliver cutting-edge NFTs that mix culture and gaming.
On December 13, 2021, Nike said they now own an NFT startup named RTFKT studios. The company says they plan to incorporate this studio in their longtime schemes of delivering unique pieces.
Per their official website, this startup studio began operations in January 2020 during the first phase of the covid-19 pandemic. The website also says the startup aims at incorporating NFTS, augmented reality, and blockchain authentication in its projects. Now, the sportswear company is interested in using this company as their subsidiary to aid them in coming up with new ideas on NFTs.
Nike continues pushing forward with its NFT vision by purchasing RTFKT studios
This year, a lot is happening to the crypto sphere, and many organizations and individuals are joining in. One of the most notable developments in crypto adoption is Nike, where it strives to survive and thrive in the metaverse. It has already done projects and launched them.
Nike has also forged notable partnerships and deals that it hopes will be very helpful as it journeys through the metaverse. However, the company doesn’t seem to be ‘content’ with its current resources from partnerships.
Two days ago, the sportswear company said it had acquired RTFKT (artifact), a new NFT studio. However, RTFKT is not as new as many would think. It has already made a project with an artist known as ‘Fewocious.’ Over 600 pairs of virtual and physical NFT sneakers were sold, cashing in about $3.1 M from that project.
The CEO and President of Nike, John Donahoe, said that this RTKFT is there to transform the company digitally and aid athletes and creators in sports, gaming, culture, and creativity. He went ahead to say that this acquisition now gives the company control over a very creative team that already has an authentic brand. Donahoe added that the shoe company plans to increase the span of its wings to cover the growing need of developing an innovative community using RTFKT.
Per Benoit Pagotto, a co-founder of RTFKT, Nike is the only organization on the planet whose passion for innovation aligns with his studio. He also added that he is excited that the new relationship will continue developing their brand. However, he said their sale terms are confidential and not open to the public.
Nike leads other multinationals in journeying through the metaverse
The news of this acquisition comes after Nike’s recent partnership with Roblox in November. The American firm made news with their project ‘Nikeland’ to allow users to dress their avatars using their products. Following their bold move to join the crypto sphere, their main competitor Adidas also said it would join in.
In that month, Nike did some virtual projects like the ‘Air Jordan Jumpman’, ‘SNKRS’ logo, and ‘Just Do It’ tagline, which it said were downloadable. Later that month, Adidas leaked a plan to join the crypto space through a partnership with Coinbase.
Adidas later came to officially join the metaverse after announcing their new partnership with BAYC and Gmoney. These developments are interesting, but only time can tell what will happen to the upcoming metaverse and its participants.
