Tempted By Metaverse's "Wetlands" Is The Reason For Nike To Acquire RTFKT Virtual Sneaker Shoe Brand

Reasons for Nike's acquisition of RTFKT (Momentranks)

JAKARTA – One of the largest sportswear manufacturers, Nike, has acquired virtual sneaker manufacturer RTFKT. With this announcement, Nike is not kidding about going deeper into the metaverse.

RTFKT also announced that the company has become part of Nike. This was conveyed by RTFKT through a Twitter post on December 13, 2021 yesterday. The acquisition of RTFKT will help the company to "present the next generation collection that combines culture and games."

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

— RTFKT Studios (@RTFKTstudios) December 13, 2021

For information, RTFKT, which was founded in 2019, has become increasingly popular among sneaker and Web3 fans. The popularity of RTFKT skyrocketed amid the explosion of NFT in early 2021.

Previously, RTFKT had launched a number of virtual sneakers designs and sold them on a limited basis. The design is the result of a collaboration with the artist Fewocious. The sale of the virtual shoe design managed to generate a profit of 3 million US dollars.

It didn't stop there, RTFKT also collaborated with artist Takashi Murakami to auction off the CloneX collectible in the form of 20 thousand 3D avatars in NFT form.

"Our plan is to invest in the RTFKT brand, serve and grow their creative and innovative community, and expand Nike's digital footprint and capabilities," said Nike CEO John Donahoe.

Supporting this vision, RTFKT co-founder Benoit Pagotto said, “We are very excited to develop our brand that is fully formed in the metaverse.”

On the other side of the world, German sportswear manufacturer Adidas announced it entered the metaverse after partnering with nonfungible token (NFT) companies, including Bored Ape Yacht Club, Gmoney NFT, and Punks Comic.

“The metaverse is a place where everyone can express their most original ideas and be their most authentic self, in whatever form they may take. And thanks to blockchain [and NFT], those pioneers can own some of what they create,” Adidas wrote, quoted from Cointelegraph.

Meta, who recently changed his name from Facebook, welcomed the Adidas entry by saying, “We can't wait to see Adidas in the metaverse.”