RTFKT: An in-depth guide

15 min readJun 8, 2022

Intro

A summary of our research into the RTFKT NFT project. We undertake this research already for our personal trading, and share it in case any of our followers might find it useful as well. If you have any requests for other projects you’d like to see guides on, we would be interested to hear.

In these in-depth guides, we score NFT projects along a number of different dimensions to create an overall score out of 10. Attempting to quantify the quality of different projects helps us to compare collections that we like, and we use this research to inform our desired buy-in prices.

Important Info:

Please note that all info is valid (to the best of our knowledge), as of 06/06/2022

Important Links

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ART

The art from the initial release of CloneX was one of the first 3D art projects in the NFT space to have massive success.
RTFKT teamed up with renowned artist Takashi Murakami and 3D art company Daz 3D to create the art for the CloneX, creating 3D avatars. These avatars set the standard for 3D art in the space.
In true Murakami style, the avatars have many colourful and unique traits bringing the avatars to life. The artwork is extremely detailed, and all traits work together and are layered well.
One thing I like most about the art is the sheer options when it comes to traits. There are 118 clothing traits and 162 hair traits which goes to show how much time and effort was put into creating the art for this collection, I am yet to see a collection with so many possibilities when it comes to the combinations the avatar could have.
The art from the other collections, such as the many sneaker releases from RTFKT is also mega colourful and outlandish, fitting well with the brand image.

The CloneX collection has some of the best artwork I have seen for an avatar collection with the look and feel extending to other RTFKT pieces including the Nike Dunk drop. The colours and effects make this instantly recognisable and many other projects have tried to replicate this since launch.

SCORE 9.5/10

TEAM

The team started out as three friends who are co-founders of RTFKT: Benoit Pagotto, Steven Vasilev and Chris Le. The co-founders have a lot of experience in branding, designing luxury stores, creating logos for hip hop artists, directing music videos and movies.

Not too much information can be found about the exact work history of the co-founders apart from Benoit who has a long list of experience relating to brand strategy and marketing working with large brands such as Gucci and Tommy Hilfiger helping them collaborate with other companies such as Animal Crossing.
RTFKT was acquired by Nike on 13/12/2021, as Nike’s entry into Web3.
RTFKT brought on board well-known digital artist FEWOCiOUS to create their first digital sneakers collection. This was a great choice, as it put RTFKTs name on the map, allowing the team to raise $3.1m on their first collection drop.
There are many others who help to create 3D art for RTFKT. This includes Rasa Vaisvilaite, who has a track record of creating 3D sneaker designs for large brands including Clarks, and Janis Sne, who was previously a 3D Sportswear Designer for Adidas, plus a few others who are not currently doxed.
RTFKT have a stacked team of developers including Konstantinos Tsamouras, who has previously worked for the likes of Bandwidth Inc and ING. Another key developer on the RTFKT team is Aureliano Alarcon Smith, who has worked to program the interactivity of webpages for the likes of Microsoft and McDonalds.

RTFKT have continued to strengthen their team since launch, choosing to take on only the best employees whether it be artists or developers. The fact that RTFKT have been acquired by Nike means they will have plentiful resources at their fingertips when it comes to continuing to build the team, likely more so than any other NFT project on the market currently.

SCORE 9/10

COMMUNITY

RTFKT have been known to look after investors within the community, offering RTFKT NFT holders whitelist and a cheaper mint price for subsequent releases such as CloneX. As well as this, they have provided many airdrops to holders.
There is regular posting of fan art from the community in the Discord server, even though there are currently no prizes to be won surrounding fan art.
Community members create pod skins which can be used in Space Pods and Loot Pods to give a different look to pods.

Many chats currently active within the Discord, as well as an active holder’s channel and another locked channel for those dubbed ‘creators’ by the community. The community in these chats are always helping each other, talking about new airdrops and new projects.
A community contest was held that gave opportunities for the community to release NFTs with RTFKT on Rarible, as well as having their works posted on the RTFKT Twitter page.
There are currently 2,200 NFTs listed for the CloneX collection out of 19,300 with 9,100 holders at the time of writing. I would like to see a higher number of individual owners and less listed, as the top 10 whales each hold anywhere from 60–100+ pieces.
A Medium page created by the head of community goes over the community agenda and events, allowing holders to stay updated.
There are events for holders both in real life and in the metaverse. Most recently, an in-person event was held in NYC, where holders got the chance to meet up and view works of art from Takashi Murakami, followed by an exclusive afterparty with Steve Aoki. As well as this, CloneX took over billboards all over NYC, plastering their artworks for all to see.
The team hold various Twitter spaces, with co-founders attending and discussing the future of the project.
There are many community-made videos and articles based around RTFKT, with no sign of the content slowing down.

The RTFKT community are well connected and have true belief in the brand. RTFKT make sure to push community growth through competitions and events, helping to maintain a strong community feel between holders.

SCORE 8.5/10

CHART & SALES ANALYSIS

RTFKT have released many different collections since they were formed, including various different sneaker drops, which were followed by a punks drop. RTFKT then moved onto CloneX, with various airdrops such as the Space Pod and MNLTH, and more recently, other Nike related releases such as the Nike Dunk.
Most of the RTFKT collections have over a 2Ξ floor currently, with more notable collections having a much higher floor price, such as CloneX with a 14.4Ξ floor, and MNLTH holding a 7.6Ξ floor at the time of writing.
The biggest collection RTFKT released before CloneX was the FEWOCiOUS sneaker release, which managed to climb up to a 17Ξ floor prior to the CloneX drop, before massively plummeting to around a 1Ξ floor. This was due to the fact that holding this NFT allowed users to get presale for CloneX, for a mint price of 0.05Ξ.
The CloneX release was a messy one, with a Dutch Auction starting at 3Ξ, and reaching 2.7Ξ when people stopped buying. This caused undercutting of the floor, with holders listing under floor on OpenSea, in the hope that they could buy back in at a cheaper price through the Dutch Auction. This causes RTFKT to stop the Dutch Auction 2h30min into the auction. The day after CloneX released at a fixed price of 2Ξ, which led to the collection selling out in 37 minutes.
After release, CloneX users were granted a vial that could be traded in for a 3D avatar. Most used their vials straight away, reducing the supply of these vials and massively driving the floor price of vials up, way above that of the CloneX avatars.
The CloneX avatars and vials sat steady around 3Ξ after release, until the team announced that around 15% of the collection would not have IP rights, which caused a dip down to around 2Ξ.
The night after this news it was announced that Nike would be acquiring RTFKT. After this news the floor price skyrocketed to around 5Ξ which it then held steady up until the end of January 2022.
After this, a MNLTH x Nike airdrop was announced, which pushed the floor price up to around 16Ξ. This airdrop made people quickly realise the value of the CloneX collection, with the floor price fluctuating through poor market conditions but returning recently to a 14.4Ξ floor.
The various airdrops RTFKT have given to CloneX holders have remained valuable, with Space Pods sitting at a 1.6Ξ floor and the MNLTH airdrop sitting at a 7.4Ξ at the time of writing.

Since the CloneX release, the floor prices of the CloneX collection and airdrops have gone from strength to strength. There is a reason the CloneX collection is priced so highly, and that is due to the fact that RTFKT continue to provide value to holders, keeping them wondering what is next.

SCORE 9/10

PARTNERS

Nike are RTFKTs main partner now, having released a couple of different collaborations since the acquisition, including Nike MNLTH and the RTFKT x Nike Dunk.

Takashi Murakami collaboration through the CloneX release. A great choice as he is both well known in the NFT art space as well as the Japanese contemporary art scene. [Holders of CloneX avatars with the ‘Murakami Drip’ trait were also given whitelist for Murakami’s huge NFT release, Murakami.Flowers, which at one point had a floor price of 9Ξ].
Collaborations with Jeff Staples on previous sneakers collections, another well-known artist who owns a clothing brand that has collaborated with Nike previously to create one of their most sought-after sneakers, with sales upwards of $30,000 on the secondary market.
Collaboration with Apex Legends, where a giveaway was hosted to win custom sneakers created by RTFKT. This collaboration got a lot of hype on Twitter and grew the brand massively.
Many collaborations with smaller artists such as Eric Lefaure, Zaid Kirdsey, Yugal and Brock Hofer on early drops.
Multiple collaborations with artist FEWOCiOUS, which helped to grow both the RTFKT brand and FEWOCiOUS’ following.
Collaborations with Atari for another wearable NFT sneaker release which gained a lot of traction online early on for RTFKT.
Collaboration with Yuga Labs, allowing CryptoPunk holders to forge sneakers designed on their punks. This gained the attention of many blue-chip holders within the space, and showed that RTFKT meant business.

RTFKT have incredible skill in finding the best partners possible and have made sure to collaborate with a lot of well-known artists, as well as Yuga Labs, in order to increase reach and improve brand image. Now RTFKT have been acquired by Nike I can only see the collaborations growing stronger and stronger for future releases.

SCORE 9.5/10

FUTURE PLANS

Use of the 3D models of CloneX avatars in the metaverse.
Ability to forge exclusive physical clothing from Clones.
A marketplace is set to open soon where CloneX holders can get new wearables and drops, with the ability to trade items with other CloneX holders.
RTFKT are aiming to create their own metaverse where CloneX character models will be used, along with Space and Loot Pods.

There is set to be a big announcement soon into the future of RTFKT and CloneX according to moderators, as the last announcement steps for the future is almost complete. Apart from this the only thing stated in the Discord is to be patient as RTFKT have big things in the pipeline. I am not a big fan of this approach, as when buying into a project I like to know what the next steps are.

SCORE 7/10

ACTION SINCE LAUNCH

Initial series of NFT sneaker releases including collaborations with FEWOCiOUS and Jeff Staples released through Nifty Gateway, allowing holders to forge physical sneakers. This was innovative and something never seen before in the NFT space.
Collaborations with other artists to release hoverboards which tapped into the art driven NFT market further.
A Decentraland release in collaboration with Atari to release virtual sneakers wearable in Decentraland, which drove massive hype, with thousands flocking into the metaverse in order to get their hands on a pair.
Space Drip project, collaborating with 18 artists. This was similar to the CS:GO loot box functionality, with users purchasing a loot box unknowing of what is inside it. This was also an innovative concept within the space that other projects such as Nanopass have mimicked.
Punks Project — A sneaker release teaming up with CryptoPunks allowing users to forge a pair of digital sneakers based on the traits of their punk.
CloneX — a 3D avatar project with traits created by Takashi Murakami. The most notable drop to date, which solidified RTFKTs position in this space and led to the brand being acquired by Nike.

CloneX has given holders many airdrops since release. These include:
Space Pods, which are editable spaces used in the metaverse application ONCYBER, where users can create skins and showcase their NFT collection.
Loot Pods were also airdropped which, is an extension of users’ Space Pods.
MNLTH, which is a secret box concept where users can choose to hold onto the NFT for future utility or open it in order to redeem a pair of virtual Nike Dunks. Vials are also in these boxes, which allow users to edit their sneakers.

RTFKT have done a lot since their inception. Releasing the first successful virtual sneaker drop within the NFT space allowed them to make the news spreading the brand. Other releases since then solidified their position within the space, leading up to the hyped CloneX launch, which eventually led to a Nike acquisition. The airdrops bringing value to holders have been on another level, and I am excited to see what RTFKT do next.

SCORE 9.5/10

SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE & WEBSITE

Twitter: Blue tick verified, 355k followers, posts average around 200 retweets, 1,000 likes and 70 comments with 7,800 tweets in total. The founders all have over 70k followers on Twitter.

Instagram: Blue tick verified, 459k followers, weekly posts hitting around 10k likes, 100 comments per post, 146 total posts with daily stories sharing many fashion-related posts as well as fan posts. Many pinned stories on the Instagram page going through different releases and collaborations with other brands.
Discord: Verified discord server, 165k members, 20k online average, tons of different active chat channels based around different RTFKT releases as well as other chat channels based around fitness, anime etc. Daily posting of fan art even though it has been a while since an RTFKT release.
Key members of the project all have upwards of 5k followers on their personal Twitter accounts, with the co-founders all having 70k+ followers.
The website is clean and showcases every digital RTFKT release to date, with each artist collaboration listed in the side bar. The home page features articles and videos based on newer releases so newcomers can learn more about the project. The website also has a community section, where fans are pictured showing off their virtual clothing and sneakers, as well as a leader board for a creator contest which shows a leader board of winning community members. The art on the website gives it a futuristic feel, that goes in line with previous RTFKT releases.

RTFKT have a huge social media following, blowing the likes of Doodles and World of Women out of the water when it comes to numbers on social media platforms. The team have done an almost perfect job of using social media to their advantage, utilising Instagram more than any other project I have seen in this space. As well as this, the website is almost flawless. I would however like to see a section about the team as this is currently missing.

SCORE 9.5/10

HYPE

RTFKT have seen massive hype since their creation, collaborating with many big brands and artists. The FEWOCiOUS collaboration was the first time RTFKT managed to hit the headlines, when they sold $3.1m worth of virtual sneakers in 7 minutes. From here on out, people within the NFT space knew who they were and what they were about.

The FEWOCiOUS drop got people interested in RTFKT, with the floor price rising rapidly to reflect the influx of people who wanted to be a part of the RTFKT ecosystem, having seen the collaborations RTFKT were able to land, and in anticipation of the upcoming CloneX release which collaborated with Takashi Murakami.
Once CloneX had a poor launch and announced the removal of IP rights for some of the 3D avatars, the hype started to dwindle as people began to lose faith in the brand. This quickly changed once it was announced that Nike would be acquiring the brand pushing hype through the roof and almost instantly tripling the floor price of the CloneX collection.
From the airdrops, users began to realise the value of the CloneX collection, and since then the hype has increased even more.

The hype for RTFKT has only grown since the Nike acquisition, with the CloneX release currently sitting in 7th place on OpenSea all time volume. If RTFKT continue to deliver value to holders I can only see the hype continuing to build.

SCORE 9.5/10

ECONOMICS

RTFKT managed to get $3.1m in revenue from the initial sale of the FEWOCiOUS sneaker drop, which pushed them into a strong financial position to release CloneX.
From the CloneX drop, RTFKT were able to generate a whopping $76m just from their initial sale, a much larger amount than many other hyped projects such as Azuki. Since launch, RTFKT have managed to make another $35m from royalties alone.
RTFKT have also earned much more from royalties from the airdrops since the CloneX launch, putting them in a position of power economically.
There is currently no transparency around where the funds are going, although I imagine a lot of the funds will be going towards future releases and paying staff members.

There are few projects in this space who have a better financial backing than RTFKT, especially now they have been acquired by Nike. The only issue I have currently is the transparency on where the money is going.

SCORE 9/10

UTILITY

Presale opportunities for early RTFKT supporters for the CloneX drop.
Ability to wear virtual sneakers within Decentraland.
Space pods viewable in ONCYBER, where users can reskin their pods to their liking, showcase art and play music. Anyone is able to visit a Space Pod of their choice to host events within the metaverse.
Events held both in the metaverse as well as in real life, for example the NYC CloneX holders event.
Future physical clothing creation from CloneX avatar models.
Regular airdrops to CloneX holders, providing further utility in terms of crafting sneakers.
Holders of the Space Drip collection can forge digital Nike Air Force 1 sneakers based on the specific artists Space Drip NFT, with the opportunity to redeem as physical sneakers. With only 589 items in this collection, the physical Nike sneaker is set to be one of the rarest of all time, with holders of rarer Space Drip NFTs having even rarer sneakers. An example of this being the Viii Space Drip, which has a supply of 5, meaning that there will be only 5 sneakers ever created with these traits.

So far, the utility provided through various airdrops and redemptions has been outstanding. The CloneX project is a work in progress, but I can only see utility from this project increasing over time. If RTFKT are able to create their own metaverse in which RTFKT items can be used, it could be a huge breakthrough for them.

SCORE 9/10

OVERALL SCORE: 9/10

FINAL THOUGHTS

RTFKT are market leaders in the NFT fashion space and were innovating long before most projects even saw their creation. The acquisition by Nike affirms confidence that RTFKT can become a global brand.

The main strength that RTFKT have shown so far is their ability to collaborate with others, each time getting bigger and bigger names on board, with the likes of Yuga Labs and Takashi Murakami joining the mission.

Everything RTFKT have done since creation feels extremely well planned out, with next steps being thought of ahead of time and no empty promises that could disappoint holders. With Nike on board the brand will only continue to grow, and with cheaper entry points into the RTFKT ecosystem available through the space pods and other collections, RTFKT is a brand for all and not just a select few. This teamed with the fact that RTFKT have provided nothing but utility so far makes them a company who could completely take over the NFT scene.