TL;DR
- Nike, Adidas, and other major consumer brands doubled down on NFT strategies in early 2022
- Nike acquired RTFKT Studios in December 2021, signaling a long-term commitment to digital fashion
- Adidas launched its “Into the Metaverse” NFT collection in partnership with BAYC, gmoney, and Punks Comic
- Meta reportedly began developing NFT features for Facebook and Instagram platforms
- The NFT market grew past $40 billion in 2021, with brand adoption accelerating the trend into 2022
January 2022 was shaping up to be the month when NFTs went fully mainstream — not through speculative trading by crypto enthusiasts, but through the calculated entry of some of the world’s largest consumer brands. From sportswear giants to social media conglomerates, corporations were no longer dipping their toes in the water. They were diving in headfirst.
Nike’s Strategic RTFKT Acquisition
Nike made one of the most significant moves in the brand-NFT intersection when it acquired RTFKT Studios in December 2021. The digital fashion house, known for its cutting-edge virtual sneakers and collectibles, gave Nike an immediate foothold in the metaverse economy. By January 2022, RTFKT’s CloneX collection was one of the hottest projects on OpenSea, with floor prices hovering around 7 ETH — roughly $18,000 at the time.
The acquisition was not just about selling virtual shoes. It represented Nike’s belief that digital ownership would become as significant as physical ownership in the coming years. The CloneX avatars, designed in collaboration with artist Takashi Murakami, became status symbols in their own right, blending high fashion with blockchain technology.
Adidas Goes “Into the Metaverse”
Not to be outdone by its longtime rival, Adidas launched its “Into the Metaverse” NFT collection in partnership with Bored Ape Yacht Club, influential NFT collector gmoney, and the comic book NFT project Punks Comic. The initial mint of 30,000 NFTs sold out within minutes, generating approximately $23 million in primary sales at a mint price of 0.2 ETH.
The Adidas NFTs were not just digital collectibles — they served as access passes to exclusive physical and digital experiences. Holders were promised exclusive merchandise, virtual wearables for metaverse platforms, and invitations to community events. This utility-driven approach represented a significant evolution from the purely speculative NFT drops that had dominated much of 2021.
Meta Plots Its NFT Future
Perhaps the most consequential brand move came from Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Reports in January 2022 indicated that the company was actively developing NFT features for its social media platforms, exploring ways to let users display, create, and potentially sell digital collectibles across its family of apps.
The implications were staggering. With billions of users across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, even a small percentage engaging with NFTs could dramatically expand the market. Meta’s rebranding from Facebook in October 2021 had already signaled CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s commitment to the metaverse, and NFT integration was seen as a natural extension of that vision.
The Beverage Industry Joins In
The NFT wave extended well beyond tech and fashion. Budweiser launched its Heritage Collection NFTs in late 2021, featuring 1,936 unique digital cans inspired by the brand’s storied history. Pepsi followed with the Pepsi Mic Drop genesis NFT collection, offering 1,893 unique tokens that celebrated the brand’s iconic legacy in music and culture. Both campaigns demonstrated how legacy brands could leverage NFTs for community building and brand storytelling rather than pure revenue generation.
Athletes and Celebrities Lead by Example
The celebrity NFT phenomenon continued to gain momentum in January 2022. Tom Brady’s NFT platform Autograph, which had already partnered with major sports leagues, was expanding its roster of athlete-backed digital collectibles. NBA Top Shot remained one of the most accessible entry points for mainstream users, with millions of accounts registered and hundreds of millions in total sales.
Ethereum was trading at $2,547 on January 28, according to CoinMarketCap data, providing a healthy backdrop for NFT activity. The total cryptocurrency market cap stood at approximately $1.68 trillion, and the NFT sector’s growth was increasingly viewed as a parallel economy with its own dynamics and drivers.
Why This Matters
The flood of major brands into the NFT space in early 2022 was not a coincidence or a passing trend. It represented a fundamental shift in how corporations viewed digital ownership and community engagement. When companies like Nike, Adidas, and Meta invest hundreds of millions of dollars in NFT-related initiatives, they are making a calculated bet that digital assets will be a core part of the consumer experience for years to come. For the broader market, brand adoption brings legitimacy, infrastructure investment, and — most importantly — millions of new users who might never have encountered NFTs otherwise.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. NFT investments carry significant risk. Always conduct your own research before participating in any NFT market.
Nike buying RTFKT was the signal. biggest sportswear brand on earth acquiring a digital fashion house. people laughed then, nobody is laughing now
people werent laughing at the RTFKT acquisition, they were scrambling to buy clone x avatars at 10 eth. the real laugh is on anyone still holding those bags
BrandWatcher clone x at 10 eth to now 0.3 eth is a 97 percent drawdown. worse than most altcoins. nike made the smart move shutting it down instead of pretending digital sneakers were a real business
nike bought RTFKT and then shut it down in 2024. biggest sportswear brand on earth couldnt make digital fashion work. the acquisition was the top signal for NFTs peaking
pixel_wraith Nike shutting down RTFKT in a Friday blog dump was the quietest billion dollar L in corporate history. they acquired a whole studio just to kill it 2 years later
metadata_grief Nike buried RTFKT on a Friday afternoon which is corporate speak for please do not write about this. billion dollar acquisition gone in a blog post
metadata_grief friday blog dump is standard PR for killing a project you overpaid for. same playbook as meta shutting down novi wallet. bury the news on a weekend and hope nobody notices
pixel_wraith the RTFKT shutdown was quiet on purpose. nike buried it in a friday blog post. no press release no nothing
pixel_wraith Nike shutting down RTFKT was the nail. they paid top dollar for a studio and killed it in 2 years. digital fashion needed product not collectibles
meta quietly sunset their NFT features on instagram and facebook in 2023 too. the whole corporate NFT wave vanished faster than anyone predicted
RTFKT shutting down was the quietest end to a billion dollar bet. nike basically admitted digital fashion wasnt ready for prime time
sneakerhead_eth people were not laughing at the RTFKT acquisition.CTC to 10 eth was pure FOMO and nike cashed out at the top of digital fashion hype. the acquisition was timed perfectly for nike and terribly for everyone who bought the narrative
Adidas partnering with BAYC and Punks Comic for their NFT drop. talk about delegating your web3 strategy to the community
delegating web3 strategy to BAYC holders aged about as well as youd expect. adidas pivoted to generic digital collectibles within a year. the BAYC partnership was pure hype
Arjun Desai BAYC partnership was pure copium from adidas. they had zero web3 team and outsourced everything to monkey picture owners
adidas delegated their entire web3 launch to BAYC influencers and wondered why it didnt resonate past the existing nft audience. classic corporate misread
Emeka O. Adidas outsourcing their web3 launch to BAYC influencers was peak 2022 energy. zero internal strategy just vibes and monkey pictures
the $40B NFT market in 2021 and now you can buy Clone X for 0.3 ETH. brand partnerships were exit liquidity for the founders, not strategy
paid 4 eth for a clonex mint. nike shut down rtfkt 2 years later. biggest L in my portfolio and i held through terra
Adidas paying BAYC holders to design their strategy was the most expensive crowd sourcing disaster ever. they could have hired actual designers for 1% of the budget
Cornelis V. the irony is actual designers would have cost less AND produced something with cultural value. instead we got ape-branded hoodies
Meta quietly killed NFT features on Instagram in 2023. Zuckerberg pivoted to AI and pretended the metaverse bet never happened. 40B market gone