CloneX NFTs and the secret behind Nike and RTFKT’s success

When Nike announced at the end of 2021 that it had acquired Web3 content developer RTFKT Studios, the news went right under the noses of the sneaker and clothing brand’s most die-hard fans. But the wider Web3 community took notice – especially those attuned to the NFT space. With this new acquisition, Nike made its intention to make a name for itself in the metaverse. The first step towards the lofty goal? NFTs.

Today, thanks to the fast-growing CloneX NFT collection that launched in November 2021, it looks like Nike can reproduce its IRL cultural capital on the Web3. Despite the hype Nike and RTFKT have built through their many NFT drops in recent months, CloneX’s legitimacy appears to be anything but exaggerated. A combination of factors came together to enable the NFT community at large to embrace this new project with open arms.

State of Nike in NFTs

When legacy brands – especially luxury brands – enter this new territory, they tend to do so with a splash. Nike has been no exception, as evidenced by the declines that newly acquired RTFKT has pumped into the space. While the new tandem made their first NFT release in February 2022, their best work was yet to come.

As of April 2022, RTFKT’s has brought virtual, officially licensed Nike sneakers into the NFT market: the CryptoKicks NFT Collection. Sneaker culture has taken a notoriously speculative turn in recent years, so it only makes sense that there’s a growing crossover between sneakerheads and NFT faithful.

In recognition of that crossover, with Nike’s acquisition of RTFKT also came the acquisition of the CloneX NFT avatar collection, which launched a month before news of the acquisition became public.

But what exactly is a CloneX NFT?

Let’s start with what CloneX is not it. Contrary to what Google search results might lead you to believe, the CloneX name doesn’t just refer to a manufacturer of root gels, cloning solutions, and other industrial solvents. There is also a NFT collection.

Nike and RTFKT’s CloneX NFT Collection consists of 20,000 3D avatar NFTs called “Clones” designed with a specific focus in mind. Each clone in the collection is turnkey, ready for the metaverse from the start, as the collection marks the first installment in Nike and RTFKT’s intended metaverse ecosystem.

I am with. So how do I buy a CloneX NFT?

Currently the best way to pick up a clone is by reading OpenSea. At the time of writing, the collection has a floor price of 6.4 ETH – roughly $8,500 according to recent valuations. While you can try to partially buy in by buying a fraction of a clone, you may not be able to enjoy the full range of tools planned for these NFTs. It will simply be an investment on your part.

An inclusive collection

But what makes CloneX really special isn’t the tool its developers intended for it. CloneX is also taking significant steps forward in the NFT space to provide as many different types of people as possible the corresponding NFT avatars to represent them in the virtual world. The level of inclusivity with which the CloneX team has imbued their collection goes beyond just race and biological sex.

Each of the 20,000 CloneX NFT avatars falls into one of eight subtypes, or “DNA types.” About half of all CloneX NFTs are classified as Human, three-tenths as Robot, and Angels, Demons, Reptiles, and Undead make up the remaining two-tenths of the total offering. With the Human CloneX DNA type, a small fraction have the “vitiligo” trait – the same skin condition that left Michael Jackson wearing a glove throughout the 80s, and bleaching his skin for the rest of his life. However, unlike the late King of Pop, CloneX NFTs with Vitiligo skins will wear them loud and proud – perhaps as an affirmation for all CloneX holders who need that extra push to be comfortable in their own skin.

For those counting, you might notice that we’ve just listed six DNA types so far. We’ve saved the two rarest DNA types in the CloneX collection for last, so stick around.

The rarest clones

Let’s start with Murakami clones. No, not sad existential novelist Murakami. We are talking about the Japanese pop art sensation Takashi Murakami. When the artist collaborated with the Clone X team for a late 2021 drop, he single-handedly raised the project’s profile from a “great NFT project” to a “potential funnel for mainstream NFT adoption.”

In an interview with HypebeastMurakami revealed that he helped the CloneX team design features representing eyes, mouths, helmets and clothing for several new generative PFP avatar NFTs to be added to the original 20,000.

To help commemorate the legendary artist’s collaboration, CloneX then added an entirely new DNA subtype to the Clone pool: Murakami clones. These recognized clones make up only 0.5 percent of all Clone NFTs currently in circulation.

At the time of writing, the most expensive clone sold so far on the market had a Murakami DNA subtype. CloneX #4594 sold for 450 ETH on OpenSea in late 2021 — that’s worth almost $600,000 at the time of writing.

Despite that, Murakami clones are only the second rarest DNA subtype in the collection. That honor is the Alien DNA subtype. Only 0.15 percent of all clones in circulation have this DNA subtype, with the most expensive Alien Clone selling for 88.88 ETH in December 2021.