The NFTY News tracks the ever-evolving narrative of how the mainstream will enter crypto through user applications. In each edition I explore non-fungible tokens, dApps, and the ecosystem affecting consumer crypto applications.
This week Nike filed a trademark for an intent to use with the word “CryptoKicks”.
Here’s one of the provisions that stood out from the trademark:
IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Provision of online blogs in the field of crypto-collectibles; entertainment services, namely, providing an online computer game; entertainment services, namely, curated scavenger hunts, obstacle courses or treasure hunts; entertainment services, namely, providing interactive online mobile gaming applications; providing information on-line relating to crypto-collectible customization for hobby or entertainment purposes
It’s looking like Nike is considering a marketplace for customizable sneakers, taking a play from Goat or even similar to what WAX did with vIRLs. Nike could use a gaming platform as a way to engage consumers to win a cryptocurrency to be used in its own marketplace, potentially waiving fees for the marketplace.
Coincidentally, I wrote a post last year about a theoretical Nike “Swoosh” ERC20 token in order to describe how a company can decentralize the minting of non-fungible tokens. Using a fungible token, a brand can give fans the ability to vote on which fan-created assets should be added to the main catalog. When these assets are purchased from the main catalog, the third-party creators would earn royalties.
Nike CFO Andrew Campion mentioned in a Q4 call that Nike is executing a three-year roadmap pivot to a purely digital footprint. The roadmap discussed includes having more exclusive memberships & loyalty rewards for consumers, something also covered in the CryptoKicks trademark for exclusive messaging.
This isn’t anything radically new, having been tried more than one can count in crypto. But Nike has a moat that many of these projects didn’t have - brand power & an existing fanbase. You can’t fork a community, but you can progressively decentralize it by bootstrapping financial rewards with a cryptocurrency in order to earn back consumers’ trust.
Disclaimer: I work on helping create a world of infinite possibility at Dapper Labs. All opinions are my own and don’t represent the opinions of Dapper Labs.