NFT collectors bought a pair of shoes for 22 ETH?
Editor's Note: This article comes fromMengyan Finance (ID: Meng-eyes), reprinted by Odaily with authorization.
Editor's Note: This article comes from
Mengyan Finance (ID: Meng-eyes)
Mengyan Finance (ID: Meng-eyes)
, reprinted by Odaily with authorization.
The hype surrounding sneakers has turned collectibles into investments. The voracious appetite of "sneaker enthusiasts" and the low supply of stock from popular brands have also fueled the explosion.
The anonymous buyer is WhaleShark, one of the industry’s largest collectors of non-homogeneous tokens (NFTs) for artwork and digital games. When he jumped into the bidding pool for this pair of sneakers, the other little fish were scared away.
While he denies being a sneakerhead, WhaleShark told CoinDesk on the phone that he researched the 17 most expensive pairs of sneakers in the world and found that they can fetch as much as $50,000, and the main reason behind them is scarcity. sex.
"So when I noticed that there would be an NFT version of the sneaker, they tugged at my heartstrings," he said. "I'd love to hang it on my office wall or on a digital screen.""artifact"Not only will the $13,000 artwork hang on his office wall, but WhaleShark will also receive identical physical sneakers at their door early next year.
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$13,000 sneakers
The boots were named "The X Evolutions," or simply "The X" by most. The shoe is clearly inspired by the iconic Nike Dunk High and produced by popular Instagram sneaker studio RTFKT (pronounced like
)creation.
"The reason I entered the bidding process was because I wanted to see how the design came to be," WhaleShark said.
“It’s really not the best time for us,” RTFKT co-founder and CEO Steven Vasilev told CoinDesk. “We’re seeing bidding actually slow down a bit with the recent Bitcoin boom and ETH’s climb across all platforms.”
Recently, however, things have turned around for the better. NFT auctions are also everywhere. For example, Canadian DJ Deadmau5 sold one of his NFT collectibles, RAREZ, on SuperRare last week for 78 ETH (about $50,000). In addition, famous rappers have also started participating in NFTs.
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RTFKT team
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Why sneakers?
Galaxy Digital partner and investor Richard Kim told CoinDesk that this "oh s**t" moment "is a great example of a virtual space where things get so blurred you don't even know what to expect." It’s not clear which realities are real.”
The real sneaker market has become a real force in recent years. According to Cowen Equity Research, which lists sneakers as an alternative asset class, the global resale market for sneakers is expected to reach $30 billion by 2030.
What’s different about RTFKT’s latest shoe is that it seems to appeal perfectly to NFT early adopters and real-life sneakerheads. WhaleShark said that when there is a physical pair of sneakers involved in the transaction, it can also make the transaction of virtual items better.
He added: "I was bidding until I was sure I could walk in them, although I'm disappointed it didn't make it to level 10."
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Physical and Digital Ownership
“We hope that by combining physical and digital products, the transition to NFTs will give people a first try,” said Chris Le, co-founder of RTFKT. "Somewhere down the road, maybe when AR or VR becomes mainstream, we'll stop sending physical products and go completely digital."
