A pair of virtual sneakers sold for $5,000 is "really fragrant" or an IQ tax?

Image source @RTFKT Studios official website spent $5,000 to buy a pair of "non-existent sneakers". This pair of sneakers can not only be sold and traded online, but also has a good hype value. Do you dare to buy it? Anyway, on the digital fashion brand RTFKT Studios (hereinafter referred to as RTFKT) platform, people have already bought crazy. In March of this year, RTFKT Studios and the 18-year-old encryption artist Fewocious launched a joint shoe model. More than 600 pairs were sold in just seven minutes after the sale, with a total value of more than 3.1 million US dollars, and the average value of each pair of sneakers reached 4992 US dollars. The "virtual sneakers" jointly launched by RTFKT Studio and FEWOCiOUS is now one of the hottest players in the "virtual sneakers" market. On May 4, it completed a seed round of financing of 8 million US dollars. According to public information, the company was founded by Chris Le, Benoit Pagotto and Wissam AI-Madhon in London, England in 2020. Its main businesses include sports shoes, skin design, AR, blockchain, NFT, digital fashion and innovative game design etc., the products launched will be auctioned on the Internet regularly, and users will use digital currency to purchase. StoneX executes the first dollar-denominated bitcoin swap transaction: On May 17th, financial services organization StoneX Group completed its first dollar-denominated bitcoin swap transaction. Its subsidiary StoneX Markets offered clients cash-settled swaps (the exchange of derivative contracts for two financial instruments at a predetermined time) earlier this month, a company executive said. The counterparty to the transaction is Liquidity Solutions Global, a subsidiary of DriveWealth Holdings. (Blockworks) [2022/5/17 3:22:40] Some of the "virtual sneakers" currently on sale on RTFKT's official website, Titanium Media App noticed that in order to let consumers truly perceive the existence of "virtual shoes", RTFKT will also make Some physical versions with the same specifications and craftsmanship as the "virtual shoes" were delivered to consumers, capturing batch after batch of diehard fans. Jonathan Lai, partner of Andreessen Horowitz, an investor in RTFKT, expressed full confidence in this market: "As people spend more time in the virtual world, I believe that our attention to virtual sneakers and handbags will be the same as our attention to virtual sports shoes and handbags in the future." Physical sneakers get as much attention as handbags. Over the past decade, gaming has evolved from entertainment to social networking—and for many today, gaming is the new mall and sports bar.” So, “virtual sneakers "How did it become popular, and what kind of technology and consumer trends are behind it? As early as 2019, the American sportswear giant Nike announced a patented technology called "CryptoKicks", which can virtualize shoes. When consumers buy a pair of genuine Nike sneakers, they will get corresponding digital sneakers, and Allocate a virtual token. Musk: Signal is the most insecure messaging service: Golden Finance reported that Moxie Marlinspike, the founder of the cross-platform messaging app Signal, recently stated on social media that Telegram is not safe, and the messages on it are actually not encrypted, saying that most people think Telegram is an encrypted app, but the reality is quite the opposite, by default it is a cloud database containing a clear text copy of every message that everyone has ever sent/received. In this regard, Elon Musk said that he did not agree with Moxie Marlinspike's point of view and asked him "whether he confirms that Signal is safe". Moxie Marlinspike replied that all Signal communications are e2ee, and the default group is also encrypted, but Musk Then said: Signal is the least secure messaging service. [2022/2/26 10:17:20] After the sneakers are sold, their associated digital assets will also be transferred to the buyer, and these digital assets are stored in Digital Locker (a cryptocurrency wallet type application), Have absolute security. However, at that time, this technology of Nike was more applied to the verification of the right and authenticity of sports shoes, and the market value of "virtual sneakers" had yet to be tapped. At the beginning of 2020, the "virtual sneakers" developed by RTFKT became popular, causing a whirlwind in the fashion circle. At that time, RTFKT Studio released a processed picture of Elon Musk on Instagram to participate in the 2018 New York Metropolitan Museum of Art charity ball, showing that Musk was "wearing" a pair of shoes that resembled the electric pickup Cybertruck. Created by RTFKT, the very cyberpunk temperament attracted many inquiries from fans, and finally sold at a high price of 15,000 US dollars, which made RTFKT a hit. The Russian National Financial Association calls for regulation of the operation of encrypted assets: On January 14, the Russian National Financial Association urged the authorities to reconsider their position against encrypted investment in the national financial market strategy. The group believes that crypto investments by Russians should come out of a "grey area" rather than be banned. (news.bitcoin)[2022/1/14 8:48:57] Picture source @LADYMAX.cn In March this year, the joint shoes launched by RTFKT and encryption artist Fewocious were sold out by consumers within seven minutes , The total sales reached 3.1 million US dollars, setting a new record. Benoit Pagotto, co-founder of RTFKT, said that they will transform the design of Fewocious into real sneakers and ship them to consumers who bought the virtual version in April. According to Titanium Media App, the virtual sneakers "produced" by RTFKT are all operated in a decentralized way using the blockchain. The shoes have an independent number and can be traded and sold like ordinary sneakers. The entire online transaction process can be traced and traced. Cannot be forged. In essence, "virtual sneakers" are actually an NFT product. According to public information, the full name of NFT is Non-Fungible Token, which translates as non-homogeneous tokens. It is a digital asset encrypted by blockchain technology and has unique and indivisible characteristics. This means that no matter what is "attached" is a painting, a song, or a pair of virtual sneakers, people can trade assets. For example, after buyers purchase "virtual sneakers" on the RTFKT platform, they can not only "wear" them on social platforms such as Instagram through customized AR filters, but also communicate with buyers through the blockchain when they want to sell them. For transactions, because some scarce sneakers have collection value, there is room for speculation. Justin Sun: Blockchain can eliminate barriers between countries, and it is more friendly and efficient than SWIFT: On November 15, Justin Sun, founder of TRON, was invited to attend the 2021 Milken Institute Asia Summit (2021 Milken Institute Asia Summit). At the meeting, Justin Sun and Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Financial Technology Officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, conducted in-depth discussions on the topic of "a new chapter in the encryption industry". Sun Yuchen said that the blockchain is a global technology that is completely decentralized and trustworthy. People can check all transaction results from the first day without trusting any party. In addition, the blockchain can eliminate the barriers between countries and is more friendly and efficient than SWIFT. [2021/11/15 6:52:48] As of press time, the official website price of the same CYBER SNEAKER virtual sneakers worn by Musk has soared to 113,996 US dollars, and it shows that they are sold out. Musk’s CYBER SNEAKER virtual sneakers Titanium Media App noticed that with the boom in the “virtual sneakers” market, some big brands have also sensed business opportunities and launched their own “virtual shoes”, adding a touch of technology to the brand. In March 2021, luxury brand Gucci and technology company Wanna Fashion launched the first "Gucci Virtual 25" virtual shoes. Users only need to spend $12.99 (about 85 RMB) to use VR technology on the Gucci App or the gaming platform Roblox. Virtual try on, and publish related pictures and videos on social platforms. Ghana wants its CBDC to be available offline through smart cards: Kwame Oppong, director of financial technology and innovation at the Central Bank of Ghana, told the Ghana Economic Forum on Monday that he wants the country's CBDC digital cedi (e-cedi) to be available through Offline use of smart cards: Financial inclusion is limited by network and power supply, as a pioneer in this area, we hope to make e-cedi available in an offline environment through some smart cards. According to data from the World Bank in 2019, about half of Ghana's population has access to the Internet, and 84% of the population has access to electricity. (Bloomberg) [2021/10/19 20:39:18] "Gucci Virtual 25" digital sneakers It is worth noting that both companies have invariably raised the NFT market: on the RTFKT to-do list, the next development The goal is NFT products in games and virtual spaces; Gucci also said that it will invest heavily in this virtual fashion in the future and release NFT products. To a certain extent, the sudden explosion of RTFKT's "virtual sneakers" has opened the door to NFT in a more concrete form, leaving digital natives with a broader world of digital consumption. The emergence of NFT is actually earlier than "virtual sneakers". In 2017, an encrypted cloud cat game "Crypto Cat" became popular all over the world. In this game, players can buy, sell and domesticate virtual cats, which can be regarded as one of the earliest prototypes of NFT. The CryptoKitties game was once all the rage. In this game, each newborn kitten will carry 256 metagenomes of the parent cat, so there will be 4 billion possibilities for the appearance, personality and characteristics of the kitten, among which "birth "'s rare cat breed, the price is as high as more than 100,000 US dollars, and netizens flock to buy it for collection. Although Cryptokitties have only been popular for a few months, it is still a milestone for the popularization of the NFT concept. Since then, NFT has also shined in the sports field. In 2019, NBA TopShot, a decentralized game, exploded in popularity as soon as it was launched. The official card packs started at $9 and were sold out within minutes. This game can present the peak moments on the field in the form of a smooth small video package. Users can redeem, collect and trade NFT cards of their favorite stars in the game. According to Titanium Media App, NFT cards also have an appreciation value. Previously, a Zion Williamson (Zion Williamson) NBA Top Shot star card was resold for a second-hand resale price of 100,000 US dollars. According to data from Cryptoslam, in March this year, NBA TopShot platform's historical turnover exceeded 260 million US dollars, making it one of the world's phenomenal NFT products. NFT cards on NBA TopShot In 2021, the NFT market will become more popular and the fields involved will be broader. At the end of February, 10 NFT paintings of Musk's girlfriend and singer Grimes sold for $5.8 million in 20 minutes; Immediately afterwards, Musk also announced that he would sell one of his songs in the form of NFT... ...One of the NFT paintings of singer Grimes On March 11, the complete collection of 5,000 digital paintings by digital artist Beeple sold for US$69.346 million (about RMB 450 million) at Christie's, the world-renowned art auction house. yuan), setting a new record for NFT digital art transactions; in mid-to-late March, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet was also sold at a high price of nearly 3 million US dollars in the form of NFT. Digital artist Beeple's NFT digital artwork "Every Day: The First 5,000 Days" In addition, the catering brand Pizza Hut, the daily necessities giant Procter & Gamble, and the boutique watch company Jacob&Co. have also launched their own NFT products. The popular "virtual sneakers" "Consumer goods" also made NFT out of the circle. Faced with such a hot momentum, a saying has become popular in the market: "Everything can be NFT". This is reminiscent of "Avalanche" written by science fiction writer Neal Stephenson. In the Metaverse world (metaverse), people have a virtual identity in which they can socialize, consume and entertain, and these behaviors also interact with the real world. ——Corresponding to the field of NFT consumption, the price fluctuations of any digital assets purchased by people also affect real life to a certain extent. This imaginative world of digital consumption undoubtedly fascinates the digital natives, but from the reality, "everything can be NFT" is still far away from us, which not only involves digital payment links that need to rely on centralized Management and confirmation by banks and third-party certification agencies also involves the mapping between NFT products and the physical world. After all, the blockchain world that is completely trustless and has an anarchist tendency is still too far away from human reality. According to Titanium Media App, NFT mainly exists in the field of electronic or digital artworks. For example, OpenSea is currently the largest trading platform for encrypted collections, including paintings, cards, domain names and more than 14.4 million NFT collections are sold on the website. OpenSea’s official website Titan Media App noticed that even though NFT is so hot, there are still many voices of opposition in the market. Some consumers believe that NFT is based on the transaction of virtual items, and there is a certain degree of speculation, coupled with the instability of virtual currency, participating in it is tantamount to licking blood. There are also radicals who say that the encryption market winter will eventually come, when the NFT bubble will be punctured and completely collapsed. Of course, today's hot NFT art trading market will also cease to exist. In response to NFT's "art bubble" argument, the famous New York art critic Kenny Schachter said: "Even if this is a bubble, there is soap, not nothing." He also predicted that NFT may exist in some form for a period of time. Time, but it may not be exactly the same as today.

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