Nike to sell virtual shoes in metaverse following RTFKT acquisition

Virtual shoes - Image of Nike brand shoes

The athletic apparel brand announced this week that it has purchased the digital sneaker company.

Nike has announced that it has acquired the digital sneaker company RTFKT, as the athletic apparel giant seeks to move forward from the real world into selling virtual shoes in the metaverse.

The digital sneaker company was acquired by the sportswear brand for an undisclosed amount.

As the metaverse grows rapidly, companies are looking to make sure they are a part of the digital experience. It appears that Nike’s first moves in that direction will include virtual shoes. The company already became one of the first large brands to take steps into the VR world that first drew major mainstream global attention when Facebook officially rebranded itself as Meta.

Now, with the acquisition of RTFKT, it is clear that Nike intends to continue to move forward with the metaverse digital experience and ensure that its brand is solidly in place there when the VR world becomes ubiquitous. Though there are a growing number of brands making their initial strategies to take part in the metaverse, Nike is standing out as its efforts are already large and concrete in comparison.

Virtual shoes - Blockchain

Within the blockchain-based metaverse environments, digital property such as virtual shoes can be acquired.

The metaverse makes it possible to buy, sell and exchange all kinds of digital assets including fashions for the avatars that represent the users. These digital possessions are bought in the form of a crypto asset that is known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

RTFKT was first launched in 2020 by Benoit Pagotto, Chris Le and Steven Vasilev. The company makes digital sneakers as well as other types of digital assets. These include everything from NFT collectibles to memes, says the company’s official website.

“This acquisition is another step that accelerates Nike’s digital transformation and allows us to serve athletes and creators at the intersection of sport, creativity, gaming and culture,” said Nike CEO John Donahoe in a statement released at the announcement of the RTFKT acquisition. The statement didn’t provide substantial detail as to the company’s intentions for selling virtual shoes and other digital assets, but it is more than likely that this information will come to light in the near future as Nike’s moves toward the metaverse are rapid ones.

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