Nike Buys Digital Sneaker And Fashion Brand RTFKT: What Investors Should Know

Nike Inc NKE announced an acquisition Monday that could strengthen its position in the digital sneaker market.

What Happened: Nike announced it's acquiring RTFKT, a leading brand for digital sneakers and fashion. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“This acquisition is another step that accelerates Nike’s digital transformation and allows us to serve athletes and creators at the intersection of sport, creativity, gaming and culture,” said Nike CEO John Donahoe.

Related Link: Why NFT Sneakers Could Be Coming Soon From Nike

Why It’s Important: RTFKT is considered one of the leading digital collectible brands merging culture and gaming. RTFKT sold out a digital sneaker in seven minutes earlier this year for a collection worth $3.1 million. At the time, the company said it had big brands and celebrities reaching out for future partnerships.

Nike plans on investing in the RTFKT brand to continue its innovation and extend Nike’s digital footprint.

“We’re excited to grow our brand which was fully formed in the metaverse," said RTFKT co-founder Benoit Pagotto.

The acquisition follows Nike’s announcement that it would build Nikeverse in the Roblox Corp RBLX game.

RTFKT recently launched an NFT collection called RTFKT CloneX. The 20,000 collection was revealed earlier this week and saw volume and valuation surge Monday on the heels of Nike’s announcement.

The floor price of RTFKT CloneX is 5.69 Ethereum ETH/USD.

Sales volume for RTFKT CloneX was over $18 million last week, ranking sixth on CryptoSlam.

NKE Price Action: Shares were down 1% to $166.85 on Monday.