A cohort of non-buttred token holders has filed an in progress against Nike on the brutal stop of its RTFKT platform.
According to a file with the American district court for the Oriental District of New York, the complainants claim that Nike has produced a “carpet traction” by promoting the NFT on the theme of sneakers, by pocketing the benefits of initial and secondary sales, then by closing RTFKT in January 2025, leaving the holders with steep losses and not very value.
The trial, led by an RTFKT holder, Jagdeep Cheema, requests $ 5 million in damages for a trial with jury to decide for complaints. He accuses Nike of raping consumer protection laws and selling unregistered titles.
The applicants argue that NFT Nike meet the titles criteria under the Howey test, while buyers have made a money investment in a joint company with a expectation of profits linked to Nike.
“As this type of digital asset is properly classified as a guarantee under the relevant law, issuers of this type of token are required to record them and file relevant declarations with authorities and comply with relevant securities laws. The NFT Nike have never been recorded as such,” noted the trial.
Nike acquired RTFKT in December 2021, during the NFT Mania peak, positioning the movement as part of its greatest push in the digital world. At the time, RTFKT was congratulated for mixing fashion, games and blockchain technology in a way that attracted enormous attention through crypto and sneakers communities.
The studio quickly became an out -of -competition name, with projects like Clonex and Cryptokicks generating millions of sales. The first buyers were promised a gamified experience with quests, forging events and exclusive drops that have linked digital collectibles to real world rewards.
However, while the wider NFT market was cooled in 2023 and 2024, the interest in the RTFKT collections also began to fade.
In December 2024, Nike announced that RTFKT would end after a latest version, the “Blade Drop”, describing the movement as a change towards the preservation of the inheritance of RTFKT rather than a pure and simple closure.
The complainants argue that Nike’s withdrawal has crushed the value of the NFTS, many of which had once exchanged thousands of dollars, and destroyed the characteristics of the ecosystems promised as quests, awards and exclusive access to limited publishing products.
Nike and RTFKT would also have promoted NFTS with peer trading promises and an active ecosystem where to finish the challenges and forging sneakers would add real value.
After the closure, these characteristics have disappeared, the secondary market dried up and the prices of the NFT collapsed almost overnight.
“As could be expected, prices have plunged and did not recover. The investors – some of which are cited in this complaint – and the cryptographic community in general deplored the cheeky carpet of Nike,” added the trial.
