Nike Is Killing Its Ethereum NFT Sneaker and Avatar Company RTFKT

RTFKT, a digital fashion and technology company that was acquired by Nike in 2021, is shutting down.

“Today we’re announcing the plan to wind down RTFKT operations,” the company said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Looking back we’re incredibly proud of everything we’ve achieved together.” 

The company (pronounced “artifact”), which burst onto the digital collectible scene in 2021 selling $10,000 sneakers on Nifty Gateway, built a sprawling ecosystem of Ethereum-based NFTs and physical collectibles over the years, partnering with artists like Takashi Murakami along the way.

In December 2021, it was acquired by Nike for an undisclosed sum, a move which former Nike CEO and President John Donahoe highlighted as a step to accelerate “Nike’s digital transformation and allows us to serve athletes and creators at the intersection of sport, creativity, gaming and culture.”

Nike and RTFKT worked on a number of shoe collections together, even finding the foot of NBA superstar LeBron James amid the league playoffs in 2023.

But ultimately, declining prices for its NFT collections—most notably Clone X, its flagship profile picture (PFP) set—and broader disinterest in NFTs followed, ultimately resulting in the closure announced Monday.

Back in March, crypto influencer Nick O’Neill shared a rumor on X that Nike would shut down RTFKT in 2024, to which pseudonymous RTFKT co-founder Zaptio responded, “Seems like we missed the memo on our shutdown.”.  

Nike gave further hints to the rumor in September 2024 when it left the RTFKT logo out of its brand lineup in a press release detailing Donahoe’s agreement to retire from his position as Nike President and CEO. Donahoe led the sneaker giant at the time of the RTFKT acquisition. 

Some in the Web3 community have offered to revive the RTFKT brand, sending pleas on X with offers of more than $100,000 for a chance at a “Luca Netz moment.” It’s a nod to the takeover Netz had with Pudgy Penguins, an NFT collection that was plummeting before his purchase in 2022 and has since gone on to become a leading Web3-enabled brand for toys and more.

Nike will maintain a presence in Web3 with its virtual creations platform, .Swoosh which it first launched in November 2022 via Ethereum scaling network Polygon.

Representatives for Nike did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment on how .Swoosh would be impacted by the discontinuation of RTFKT, but a recent blog post from the platform indicates it “won’t be launching any more NFT collections for now.”

Prior to ending its operations, RTFKT is planning to launch a final project this December: the MNLTH X featuring the Blade Drop. No official details about the project have been provided.

“RTKFT isn’t ending,” the firm wrote. “It’s becoming what it was always meant to be—an artifact of cultural revolution.”

Clone X saw increased trading volume on the news, but the average sale price declined by more than 44% according to data from NFT Price Floor. The collection registered an all-time high floor price of more than $63,000 in 2022, but now the NFTs start at less than $1,000 worth of ETH on secondary marketplaces.

Edited by Andrew Hayward