Nike’s RTFKT shutdown in December 2024 left investors reeling and furious. The once-promising NFT venture crashed spectacularly, with Crypto Kicks plummeting from 3.5 ETH to practically zero. Thousands of digital fashion enthusiasts watched their investments become worthless JPEGs overnight, prompting a $5 million class action lawsuit. The sudden closure, masked as a “legacy tribute,” sent shockwaves through the NFT community. The deeper story behind this Web3 disaster reveals uncomfortable truths about corporate crypto ventures.
Frustration erupted across the NFT community as Nike’s digital collectibles subsidiary RTFKT announced its sudden shutdown, leaving investors with virtually worthless tokens and defunct utilities. The December 2024 announcement sent shockwaves through Web3 circles, as RTFKT’s once-coveted Nike Crypto Kicks plummeted from 3.5 ETH to a measly 0.009 ETH – roughly the price of a pizza.
NFT investors left reeling as Nike’s RTFKT closure tanks token values, with Crypto Kicks dropping from thousands to pocket change overnight.
Talk about a digital fashion disaster. The company’s final gasp was the MNLTH X collection, marketed as a “legacy tribute” before pulling the plug in January 2025. The platform had previously generated an impressive total earnings of $50 million, showcasing its dominant position before the market collapse. The studio revealed plans for an archival website to document its groundbreaking projects and influence on Web3 culture. But investors weren’t buying the farewell tour narrative. By April, they slapped Nike with a $5 million class action lawsuit, claiming the sportswear giant left them holding worthless digital assets.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. NFT sales had already nosedived 63% year-over-year in Q1 2025, hitting $1.5 billion compared to 2024’s $4.1 billion. RTFKT’s closure was like throwing gasoline on an already burning market. The platform’s 400,000+ followers on X were left scratching their heads, wondering what happened to all those promises about the future of digital fashion.
Remember when Nike acquired RTFKT in 2021? Everyone thought they’d revolutionize the sneaker game with physical-digital hybrid drops. Instead, they’re facing angry investors who can’t access their NFT utilities, challenges, or quests. The platform’s CloneX avatars – including the hyped Murakami collaboration – are now just expensive JPEGs floating in the digital void.
While competitors Adidas and Puma keep their NFT programs running, Nike ghosted its Web3 community faster than a teenager unfollowing their ex. The company’s silence following the lawsuit speaks volumes.
With Web3 funding down 78% in 2024 and blue-chip NFT floor prices halved, RTFKT’s shutdown might be the wake-up call the industry needed. One thing’s certain: Nike’s tech-forward reputation just got scuffed worse than a white Air Force 1 at a music festival.
