Nike’s first collection of shoes for the metaverse is fetching astronomical sums.
The collection is being auctioned off as NFT
On the online marketplace OpenSea, the CryptoKicks collection is being auctioned off as non-fungible tokens (NFT). Customers are paying between $4,000 to $9,500 for the shoes in cryptocurrency, but some pairs have sold for far over six figures. According to OpenSea, around 9,000 Nike Dunk Genesis NFTs have been sold.
On StockX on Thursday, a pair of Nike Supreme Stars Mean Green SB Dunk Lows was selling for around $1,000. According to CBSSports.com, a pair of Nikes worn by Michael Jordan during his rookie season in 1984 sold at auction for $1.47 million in October.
NFTs are virtual things that leverage blockchain technology and smart contracts to ensure that each item is one-of-a-kind and immutable. Instead, the shoes will be worn by an avatar walking through a virtual world like Decentraland.
Customers can choose the color of the iconic Swoosh, heel, straps, and tongue of CryptoKicks by purchasing a “skin vial.” Following Nike’s acquisition of RTFKT in December, the sneakers were designed by NFT design studio RTFKT. Nike and RTFKT are hopeful that the shoes will help them get a piece of the metaverse-related sales boom that is expected in the coming years.
According to Strategy Analytics, the global market for metaverse transactions is estimated to reach $6.1 billion this year and approximately $42 billion by 2026.
Last year, RTFKT made headlines when it sold out of a range of actual sneakers combined with NFTs.
RTFKT, which is set to arrive in 2020, made headlines last year when it sold out of a line of actual sneakers combined with NFTs in seven minutes, netting $3.1 million.
Nike did not respond to a request for comment on the sale of CryptoKicks. CEO John Donahoe mentioned “the positive momentum and excitement we’re already witnessing in the space” in a recent earnings call. Last November, the business introduced Nikeland, an online game zone on Roblox where fans can create an avatar and play sports in a virtual setting.
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