In the whirlwind world of NFTs—where pixelated avatars and algorithmic art turned into million-dollar headlines—few stories embody the industry’s explosive rise and sobering fall quite like RTFKT (pronounced “artifact”).
Born from the electric blend of sneaker culture, gaming aesthetics, and blockchain innovation, RTFKT’s journey from garage startup to Nike-backed digital fashion icon—and ultimately to its quiet shutdown—paints a portrait of both the promise and peril of Web3.
The Rise: Disruption in a Box
RTFKT emerged in 2020, during the first real wave of NFT mania. Founded by Benoit Pagotto, Chris Le, and Steven Vasilev, the company didn’t just hop on the NFT bandwagon—it redefined it. Merging luxury fashion sensibilities with gaming culture and digital ownership, RTFKT wasn’t just selling JPEGs; it was selling identity, exclusivity, and a stake in the future.
Their early drops were meteoric. In February 2021, they made headlines by selling 600 digital sneakers in just seven minutes, raking in $3.2 million. This wasn’t art hanging on a wall—it was fashion you could flex in virtual worlds, wear in AR, and potentially redeem physically. It felt like magic, and the market responded accordingly.
Collaborations with big-name artists like Fewocious and Takashi Murakami further fueled the hype. The Clone X project—a collection of 20,000 anime-inspired avatars co-created with Murakami—was a breakout hit, selling out instantly and cementing RTFKT’s place as one of the crown jewels of NFT culture.
The Nike Era: Peak Power, Corporate Pressure
In December 2021, Nike acquired RTFKT, a move that felt like a turning point for digital fashion. For many, this was the moment NFTs “made it.” If the world’s biggest sportswear brand was jumping in, surely this was just the beginning.
And initially, the partnership bore fruit. Nike Cryptokicks—NFT sneakers with changeable digital skins—debuted at 2.9 ETH, equivalent to roughly $8,500 at the time. There were hardware wallet collaborations with Ledger, NFT quests, and teaser trailers for the upcoming “Animus” universe. For a time, RTFKT looked unstoppable.
But within the walls of corporate infrastructure, the friction began. As NFT markets cooled, Nike pivoted to safer, scalable initiatives like .Swoosh, sidelining RTFKT’s experimental spirit. Missteps like U.S.-only Cryptokicks shipping further strained community trust, contributing to RTFKT’s eventual decline.
Nike’s overall digital strategy also began to shift. Rather than continuing with high-risk, collectible NFT assets, the company turned its attention to more mainstream, gamified digital experiences—like in-game wearables and branded items for virtual platforms. RTFKT’s avant-garde approach no longer aligned with Nike’s broader priorities for consumer engagement in digital space.
The Fall: From Rocket Ship to Rough Landing
By mid-2022, cracks were starting to show. The broader NFT market was cooling rapidly, and RTFKT struggled to maintain its edge. Delays plagued the long-anticipated Animus project, and MNLTH 2—meant to be a follow-up to the original mystery NFT box—underwhelmed fans.
Clone X, once a marquee digital asset, tumbled in value. At its peak in January 2022, the floor price surged to approximately 15.5 ETH, with some rare NFTs fetching up to 19.2 ETH. Notably, CloneX #4594 sold for 450 ETH, and CloneX #13134 for 368 ETH in 2022. By late 2024, the floor price plummeted to around 0.3 ETH ($320).
The missteps weren’t just technical—they were cultural. One controversy erupted when Cryptokicks iRL, RTFKT’s foray into physical sneakers, limited shipping to the U.S. only. For an international, Web3-native community, it felt tone-deaf and exclusionary.
NFT holders, who had paid a premium for global, decentralized perks, weren’t pleased. Despite public apologies and damage control attempts, the trust erosion was irreversible.
The End of the Line
In December 2024, Nike announced that RTFKT would shut down operations by January 2025. The reason? A strategic pivot back to physical products and an acknowledgment that the NFT ecosystem was no longer aligned with the company’s near-term vision.
Community members took to Discord and X to express frustration and grief over the project’s abrupt end.
Shortly before the announcement, RTFKT released one final product: MNLTH X featuring the Blade. Marketed as the culmination of its tech-fashion fusion, it failed to reignite interest or capture the imagination of a now-weary community.
Finally, in April 2025, RTFKT’s NFT collections became temporarily inaccessible due to technical issues with their hosting provider, Cloudflare. The company responded by announcing a migration of all NFT metadata to ArWeave, a decentralized, permanent storage protocol designed to ensure NFTs remain accessible even if a centralized host fails.
The Legacy: What RTFKT Leaves Behind
RTFKT’s story is more than a boom-and-bust tale—it’s a mirror for the entire NFT industry.
At its peak, RTFKT made digital ownership feel aspirational. It showed how virtual fashion could blend seamlessly into real-world luxury, how community-driven storytelling could power a global brand, and how NFTs could be more than speculative assets—they could be cultural artifacts.
But it also revealed the dangers of rapid growth, the risks of overpromising and underdelivering, and the difficulty of staying nimble inside a corporate machine.
