Image source @RTFKT Studios official website
Spend $5,000 to buy a pair of "non-existent sneakers". These sneakers can not only be sold online, but also have good hype value. Do you dare to buy them? Anyway, people are already buying crazy on the digital fashion brand RTFKT Studios (hereinafter referred to as RTFKT).
In March this year, RTFKT Studios and 18-year-old crypto artist Fewocious launched a joint shoe model. More than 600 pairs were sold in just seven minutes, with a total value of more than US$3.1 million. The average value of each pair of sneakers reached US$4,992.
RTFKT Studio and FEWOCiOUS launched the "virtual sneakers"
, now RTFKT is one of the hottest players in the "virtual sneakers" market, and completed a seed round of $8 million on May 4. Public information shows that the company was founded in London, England in 2020 by Chris Le, Benoit Pagotto and Wissam AI-Madhon. Its main businesses include sneakers, skin design, AR, blockchain, NFT, digital fashion and innovative game design. The products launched will be auctioned online regularly and users use digital currency to purchase.
Currently some of the "virtual sneakers" on sale on the official website of RTFKT
Titanium Media App noticed that in order to let consumers truly perceive the existence of "virtual shoes", RTFKT will also produce some physical versions with the same specifications and craftsmanship as "virtual shoes", and deliver them to consumers, capturing batches of loyal fans. Jonathan Lai, partner of Andreessen Horowitz, an investor of
RTFKT, expressed sufficient confidence in this market: "As people spend more time in the virtual world, we believe that in the future, our attention to virtual sneakers and handbags will be the same as our attention to physical sneakers and handbags. In the past decade, games have evolved from entertainment to social networks - for many people today, games are new shopping malls and sports bars."
So, how did "virtual sneakers" become popular, and what kind of technology and consumption trends are represented by behind them?
The popular "virtual sneakers"
As early as 2019, the American sportswear giant Nike announced a patented technology called "CryptoKicks", which can virtualize shoes. When consumers buy a pair of authentic Nike sneakers, they will obtain corresponding digital sneakers and allocate a virtual token. After the
sneakers are sold, their associated digital assets will also be transferred to the buyer. These digital assets are stored in Digital Locker (a cryptocurrency wallet type application) and have absolute security.
However, at that time, Nike's technology was more used in the confirmation of sneakers and identification of authenticity, and the market value of "virtual sneakers" remains to be explored.
By the beginning of 2020, the "virtual sneakers" developed by RTFKT became popular, and a whirlwind in the fashion circle.
At that time, RTFKT Studio posted a picture of Elon Musk participating in the 2018 Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, showing that Musk "wears" a pair of shoes that look like an electric pickup truck Cybertruck. This shoe was made by RTFKT. It has the temperament of cyberpunk and attracted many fans to inquire, and was eventually sold for a high price of $15,000, which made RTFKT a hit.
Image source @LADYMAX.cn
In March this year, the joint shoe model launched by RTFKT and crypto artist Fewocious was sold out by consumers within seven minutes, with a total sales of US$3.1 million, setting a new record. RTFKT co-founder Benoit Pagotto said they would turn Fewocious's design into real sneakers, shipped to consumers who purchased the virtual version in April.
According to Titanium Media App, the virtual sneakers "produced" by RTFKT are all run in a blockchain decentralized manner. The shoes have independent numbers and can be traded and sold like ordinary sneakers. The entire online transaction process is traceable and cannot be forged.
In essence, "virtual sneakers" are actually an NFT product.
public information shows that NFT is the full name of Non-Fungible Token, translated as a non-fungible token. It is a digital asset encrypted by blockchain technology and has unique and indivisible characteristics.This means that no matter what is "attached" is a painting, a song, or a pair of virtual sneakers, people can trade assets.
For example, when a buyer purchases "virtual sneakers" on the RTFKT platform, he can not only "wear" on social platforms such as Instagram through customized AR filters, but also trade with buyers through blockchain when he wants to sell them. Since some scarce sneakers have collection value, there is room for hype.
As of press time, the official price of the same CYBER SNEAKER virtual sneakers worn by Musk has soared to $113,996 and is shown to be sold out.
Musk's same CYBER SNEAKER virtual sneakers
Titanium Media App noticed that with the popularity of the "virtual sneakers" market, some big brands have also smelled business opportunities and launched their own "virtual shoes", adding a touch of technological color to the brand.
In March 2021, luxury brand Gucci cooperated with technology company Wanna Fashion to launch the first "Gucci Virtual 25" virtual shoes. Users can use VR technology to try it on the Gucci App or game platform Roblox for only US$12.99 (about RMB 85) and publish related pictures and videos on social platforms.
"Gucci Virtual 25" digital sneakers
It is worth noting that both companies have both added to the NFT market: in the RTFKT to-do list, the next development goal is NFT products in games and virtual spaces; Gucci also said that it will invest heavily in this virtual fashion in the future and release NFT products.
To a certain extent, the sudden popularity of RTFKT's "virtual sneakers" has pried open the door of NFT in a more concrete form, leaving digital natives with a broader world of digital consumption.
Everything can NFT? The emergence of
NFT is actually earlier than that of "virtual sneakers". In 2017, a cryptocurrency cloud cat-raising game "Crypto Cat" became popular all over the world. In this game, players can buy, sell and tame virtual cats, which can be regarded as one of the earliest prototypes of NFT.
Encrypted cat game was once popular
In this game, each newborn kitten will carry 256 metagenomes of the parent cat, so the appearance, personality and characteristics of the kitten will have 4 billion possibilities, among which the rare cat breed "born" is priced at more than 100,000 US dollars, and netizens are eager to buy and collect it.
Although crypto cats have only been popular for several months, they are still of milestone for the popularization of the NFT concept.
Since then, NFT has also shined in the field of sports.
In 2019, a decentralized game, NBA TopShot, became popular as soon as it was launched. The official card package started at $9 and sold out in minutes. This game can present the peak moments on the field in the form of a smooth small video package. Users can redeem, collect and trade NFT cards of their favorite stars in the game.
According to Titanium Media App, NFT cards also have appreciation value. Previously, a Zion Williamson NBA Top Shot star card had a second-hand resale price of $100,000.
According to Cryptoslam data, the total historical transaction volume of the NBA TopShot platform exceeded US$260 million in March this year, becoming one of the global phenomenal NFT products.
NBA NFT card on TopShot
By 2021, the NFT market will become more popular and the fields involved will be broader.
html At the end of December, 10 NFT paintings by Musk's girlfriend and singer Grimes sold $5.8 million in 20 minutes; then, Musk also announced that he would sell his song in the form of NFT...One of the NFT paintings by singer Grimes
htmlOn March 11, a complete collection of 5,000 digital paintings by digital artist Beeple was sold at the world-renowned art auction house Christie's (Christie's) for US$69.346 million (about RMB 450 million), setting a new record for NFT digital art transactions; in mid-to-late March, Jack, founder of Twitter, founder of Twitter, setting a new record for NFT digital art transactions; in mid-to-late March, Jack, founder of Twitter, was sold at a price of 69.346 million US dollars (about RMB 450 million). Dorsey's first tweet was also sold for a high price of nearly $3 million through NFT.NFT digital artwork by digital artist Beeple "Every Day: First 5,000 Days"
In addition, including catering brand Pizza Hut , daily necessities giant cleaning company, and boutique watch company JacobCo., have also launched their own NFT products, and the popular "consumer products" such as "virtual sneakers" have also made NFTs out of the circle.
Faced with such a hot momentum, a saying began to be popular in the market: "Everything can be NFT". This reminds people of "Avalanche" written by science fiction writer Neal Stephenson. People have a virtual identity in the Metaverse world (metaverse) where they can socialize, consume and entertain. At the same time, these behaviors also affect each other with the real world. Corresponding to the NFT consumption field, the price fluctuations of any digital assets purchased by people also affect real life to a certain extent.
, a highly imaginative digital consumption world, undoubtedly fascinates digital indigenous people, but from the reality, "Everything can be NFT" is still far away from us. It not only involves the digital payment process that requires relying on centralized banks and third-party certification agencies to manage and confirm, but also involves the mapping between NFT products and the physical world. After all, the blockchain world that is completely trusted and has anarchist tendencies is still too far away from human reality.
According to Titanium Media App, NFT is currently mainly in the field of electronic or digital art. For example, OpenSea is the largest crypto collectible trading platform, including paintings, cards, domain names, etc., more than 14.4 million NFT collections are sold on the website.
OpenSea official website
Tidium Media App noticed that even though NFT is so hot at present, there are still many oppositions in the market. Some consumers believe that NFT is based on virtual items transactions and has a certain degree of speculation. In addition, the instability of virtual currency , participating in it is tantamount to licking blood from the edge of a knife. Some radicals also said that winter in the crypto market will eventually come, when the NFT bubble will be burst and completely collapsed. Of course, the hot NFT art trading market will no longer exist.
In response to the NFT's "art bubble" argument, Kenny Schachter, a famous New York art critic, said: "Even if it is a bubble, there is soap, not nothing." He also predicted that NFT may exist in some form for a while in the future, but it may not be exactly the same as today's form.
It can be foreseen that with the game between virtual and reality and the continuous maturity of AR\VR technology, the value created by digital natives in the Z era in the virtual world is becoming increasingly prominent. For a long time in the future, the waves caused by NFT technology will continue to affect various industries. (This article was first released on Titanium Media App, author | Liu Muzong)
Reference:
"Sorry, my sneakers are really not worn for sale"
"Musk was "bringing goods", NFT "shoes" spread to the fashion circle"
"Because of Elon Musk virtual sneakers, digital fashion brand RTFKT Studios has received nearly 10 million US financial funds"
"NFT on the altar, bubble or trendy?" 》
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