Holders of RTFKT’s Clone X NFT collection were in for a surprise when the company, which Nike recently acquired, announced it was launching an exclusive merch drop. The “Forging” event allows holders to claim (and pay for) merchandise related to the specific Clone X NFT they own. Here are all the details.
- RTFKT will allocate merch dependent on the Clone X NFT DNA type attribute
- Wearables include hoodies, hats, jackets, and T-shirts
- There will be a limited edition run of physical sneakers, claimable at a later event
- Prices will range from $30 at the low end to $600 for a pair of sneakers
Each piece of merchandise will come equipped with near-field communication devices, allowing the RTFKT team to run merchandise-gated experiences, such as live events. Like much of the forging event, the team is calling the addition of NFC devices a way of blending the physical and digital realms.
Benoit Pagotto, RTFKT co-founder, said the forging event is a way to “continue inspiring the next generation” for what a phygital future can be. The drop will help Clone X be at the future of innovation, which will see the blurring between physical and digital identities. According to Pagotto, the forging event is just the beginning.
Minting for the wearables will go live on Wednesday, August 31st at 5 am EST. The mint window will be open for a week, and the week after, participants will be able to forge for the physical, paired items. NFT enthusiasts see Clone X as one of the top blue-chip collections in the space and RTFKT as a top NFT company.
NFT Collections Innovate During Bear Market
Even though the cryptocurrency world has been mired in a bear market, top NFT teams continue to innovate. Here are three stories Rarity Sniper has covered that show bear markets may truly be for builders and the NFT space has plenty of them.
First, the team behind World of Women airdropped “capacitors” this week to holders of the World of Women and World of Women Galaxy collections. The capacitors correspond to digital dwellings and are part of the team’s goal to expand on the NFT collections and into the metaverse.
Second, there is Yuga Labs. The team that created the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT collections has been busy during the bear market with its Otherside metaverse. First, it launched the project, raising $300 million and causing Etherscan to crash. Then, it conducted its “First Trip” where users were able to test various features of the metaverse while fighting a giant Koda.
Third and finally, the team behind the Moonbirds decided to put all the artwork in the NFT collection under Creative Commons licensing, effectively making it public domain. While this initially caused an outcry in the community, Kevin Rose, the leader of the Moonbirds team, said the move aligns with the ethos of Web3.
Clone X’s merch drop shows the mesh between the physical and digital worlds that many NFT collection creators are attempting. And, given the other stories in this section, the forging indicates that more NFT teams are innovating during this bear market, even as prices continue to fall.