The well-known sports brand Nike's digital wearables NFT startup RTFKT announced on Monday that it will cease operations. According to the announcement, the company plans to end services by the end of January 2025, but its NFTs built on the Ethereum blockchain will still be accessible and usable.
“Today, we announce the plan to end RTFKT operations.” RTFKT stated in a press release: “To commemorate and preserve this groundbreaking legacy, we will launch an updated website showcasing the groundbreaking achievements that defined the RTFKT journey.”
pic.twitter.com/ySShPa0I7r
— RTFKT (@RTFKT) December 2, 2024
RTFKT was founded in 2020, during the early excitement of NFTs and the metaverse. The company quickly became known as a rapidly developing startup and collaborated with brands and celebrities including Nike, sneaker designer Jeff Staple, and Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. In December 2021, Nike acquired RTFKT to expand its presence in the metaverse. Before the acquisition, RTFKT raised $9.42 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with a valuation of $33.3 million.
According to data from DeFiLlama, RTFKT ranks ninth in NFT project revenue, with total lifetime revenue approaching $50 million, of which royalty revenue exceeds $45 million. According to data from The Block Research, RTFKT has over 20 NFT series, generating approximately $1.5 billion in total transaction volume, most of which comes from its most successful NFT series, CloneX.
Data from NFT marketplace OpenSea shows that after RTFKT's announcement, the floor price of CloneX NFTs dropped from about 0.57 ETH (worth $2,080) to around 0.2 ETH, before slightly recovering to 0.34 ETH (worth about $1,240) at the time of publication. According to the announcement, RTFKT plans to launch a new collection before ceasing operations.
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