Nike’s RTFKT Buys ‘DotSwoosh’ Ethereum Domain Name For $35K

RTFKT, Nike’s Web3 arm, now owns 10 Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domains following the acquisition of dotswoosh.eth for 19.72 ETH, roughly $35,000. RTFKT is pronounced “artifact.”

Nike’s precise motive for the dotswoosh buy on Friday stays unclear. However as some have identified on Twitter, Nike could have plans to make use of the area for issuing ENS subdomains sooner or later. ENS subdomains are managed by the primary area identify holder.

For instance, Nike might permit holders of particular NFTs or different property the power to register an ENS subdomain beneath dotswoosh.eth (kate.dotswoosh.eth could be one such instance).

Graphic designer Carolyn Davidson created Nike’s iconic swoosh brand again in 1971 and was reportedly solely paid $35 for her work. So Nike’s 19.72 ETH buy value could also be a nod to the 12 months 1972, which was when Davidson’s swoosh brand first appeared on sneakers.

Screenshot of the 10 ENS domain names RTFKT owns. — RTFKT now owns 10 ENS domains. Picture: OpenSea.

Along with dotswoosh.eth, RTFKT additionally owns artifacts.eth, rtfkt.eth, skinvial.eth, drmos.eth, mintvial.eth, dreamos.eth, spacedrip.eth, dripcoin.eth, and m2tekno.eth.

Nike’s ENS performs do look like part of a bigger technique based mostly on its present holdings. The Mint Vial is probably going a reference to the CloneX Mint Vial Ethereum NFTs, which might be burned to create a novel CloneX avatar NFT.

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Area Drip is a reference to Nike’s Space Drip NFTs, that are digital shoe NFTs that permit the holder to “forge” a bodily model of the sneakers. RTFKT’s Skin Vials are additionally NFTs that may be burned to vary the look of Nike’s RTFKT CryptoKicks, which launched final month.

No matter its plans are for dotswoosh.eth, Nike has a track record of shopping for and trademarking a variety of affiliated names and logos. Final 12 months, it filed emblems for Nike, Nikeland, and “Simply Do It” for a broad vary of metaverse functions, in addition to its Nike swoosh and “Jumpman” logos.

Nike has additionally made efforts to squash any unofficially licensed Web3 property, suing StockX for promoting unauthorized Nike sneaker photos as NFTs.