Nike’s NFT sneakers top $1 million in sales despite repeated delays and troubles | coindesk JAPAN | Coindesk Japan

Nike launched its first NFT sneaker collection “Our Force 1 (OF1)” on the Web3 platform “.Swoosh”. Despite the postponement of the start date and technical troubles, sales exceeded 1 million dollars (1350 billion yen, 1 dollar = 135 yen).

repeated delays

OF1 will be released on May 15th, a week later than originally scheduled on May 8th. The first sale, called “First Access,” was only open to users who received an airdrop of admission ticket “posters” distributed to early members of the .SWOOSH community. A total of 106,453 posters were distributed, according to Nike.

The sale, dubbed “general access,” began on May 24, two weeks later than originally scheduled on May 10.

More than 66,000 NFTs have been sold as of the afternoon of the 25th, according to Polygonscan, which can check transaction data on the Polygon blockchain. The price is $19.82 to commemorate the year the Air Force 1 was first released. The sale is expected to last until June 1, and has generated about $1.3 million in sales so far.

According to Nike, early results are promising, but technical and traffic issues have delayed the launch multiple times, leaving eager users frustrated by the cumbersome process.

PSA pic.twitter.com/7KIBeHbTFu

— .SWOOSH (@dotSWOOSH) May 7, 2023

Also, according to the latest information from Nike, sales appear to be lower than expected. While popular physical Nike sneakers often sell out within minutes of their release, more than a third of OF1s are still available.

Confusion or technical trouble

The first-access sale finally started on May 15, but the system experienced frequent delays and instability.

On May 7, the .SWOOSH Twitter account tweeted that it would take a few more days to “tweak” the platform and provide a “seamless” experience.

But once the First Access sale started, the website crashed frequently and the publication was erratic for several hours. Some users clumsily expressed their disappointment. Nike once released a limited-edition sneaker aimed at the masses.

Man.You’d think Nike would learn from the snkrs app and try to make things better.But here we are.Sites being botted.Same ol same ol.Please be different.

— Renonelab (@renonelab) May 15, 2023

On May 16, Nike extended the First Access period and postponed the launch of the General Access sale “due to ongoing technical issues.” However, further “traffic problems” resulted in a second extension.

On May 17, it announced that there were still more than 85,000 OF1 remaining. It seemed that there were many users who wanted to purchase NFTs, but as of May 22, there are still around 83,000 in stock.

4 New Wave? 2 of each? You can split your OF1 Boxes up however you want between Classic Remix and New Wave but each box must be purchased individually.

1 transaction = 1 OF1 Box

— .SWOOSH (@dotSWOOSH) May 22, 2023

The general access sale started on May 24th, but was delayed again. Some say they were charged even though they did not receive the NFT. In response, .SWOOSH said that “an unexpected error occurred that interfered with the NFT issuance process.”

On May 25, Nike highlighted the sales success by tweeting that more than 30,000 people had purchased over 55,000 OF1s. A Nike staff member also expressed a positive perception that .SWOOSH is “managing a huge amount of traffic”.

CoinDesk reached out to Nike for comment, but did not receive a response as of this writing.

Aggressive approach to Web3

Nike has taken steps to expand its Web3 strategy over the past few years, acquiring digital fashion startup RTFKT Studios. RTFKT has successfully launched multiple NFTs, including the CryptoKicks collection.

It has partnered with brands such as European suitcase maker RIMOWA and artist Takashi Murakami to release limited editions.

.SWOOSH has announced that it will launch a “.SWOOSH Marketplace” within the next few months, touting plans to expand into virtual and real experiences, games, NFTs, 3D, and more.

｜Translation: coindesk JAPAN
｜Editing: Rinan Hayashi
｜Image: Nike
｜Original: Nike OF1 NFT Sale Surpasses $1M Despite Delays, Tech Issues