Nike Acquired RTFKT-Non Fungible Token Studio: Report

Nike acquired RTFKT, a non-fungible token studio that has a virtual sneaker collectibles collection and it has 561 NFTs in its own collection with 100 others created so let’s read more today in our latest cryptocurrency news.

Nike acquired RTFKT but it is unclear whether the acquisition is related to various NFTs and crypto patents filed by Nike a month ago. Nike announced that it acquired the virtual sneaker design company and a studio for NFTs. RTFKT was founded in 2020 to create a virtual sneaker design for online games and the Metaverse. The group provided designs for game companies and fashion designers before shifting to NFT designs last year. The group’s OpenSEA page said that the RTFKT has 561 NFTs in its own collection and created more than 1000 others. One of the most popular was a series of virtual sneakers that were designed around CryptoPunks and sold for 3.2 ETH.

Nike President and CEO John Donahoe wrote that the acquisition came as a part of the company’s attempts to engage with digital culture and said that Nike will gain a team of talented creators. RTFKT wrote that Nike is a brand in the world that they have always looked up to and got inspired while saying that it will continue to expand its brand under Nike. Back in November, Nike filed patents for technologies that appeared to be related to NFTs and it started to work on another project called CryptoKicks back in 2019. it is still unclear whether today’s news is related to these efforts but nevertheless, the timing combined with the group’s goals, suggests that RTFKT plans to make some of Nike’s biggest patents into a reality. Nike is just one of the major companies that set its eyes on NFTs. Others include Adidas, Facebook, Ubisoft, Time Magazine, and Visa.

As recently reported, The footwear giant Nike patents the new solution and the patent is described as a digital asset for footwear and ways to use it. One such implementation of the technology that was described in the document as Ethereum ERC721 is used to authenticate and transact a physical shoe. The token will get unlocked with the purchase of a corresponding physical shoe that will be linked to a 10-digit shoe identification code with the owner identification code. The system hopes to provide a way to ensure that the authenticity of the goods is on a high level as described in the patent.

RTFKT is now a part of the NIKE, Inc. family. 🌐👁‍🗨 pic.twitter.com/5egNk9d8wA

— RTFKT Studios (@RTFKTstudios) December 13, 2021

Once the footwear is sold, the ownership of the digital token can be further passed along the physical product and the property of the tokens will be managed in a dedicated app looking to improve the brand engagement. The patent also borrows ideas from the popular blockchain collectible cats game Cryptokitties and it suggests that the shoes can be bred.