- The plaintiff accused Nike for promoting unregistered securities.
- The NFT connected to the RTFKT dropped from $ 8,000 to $ 16 after closing.
- Litigation emphasizes legal uncertainty of NFT as securities.
NIKE is facing a $ 5 million class action lawsuit that claims that the company has misunderstood the investor by promoting a token (NFT) without swearing to the RTFKT platform before suddenly closing.
The lawsuit, which was submitted to the Brooklyn Federal Court on April 25, accused NIKE’s marketing of NFTS with sneakers, encouraging investments, and closed the platform in January 2025.
This case emphasizes the increase in tensions on classification as NFT securities, and the total sales fell 63% year -on -year due to the rapid downturn of the NFT market value.
NIKE prosecuted unregistered NFT for sale.
The class action group led by Jagdeep CHEEMA claims that NIKE promotes NFT, which functions as unregistered securities using brand recognition and marketing strengths.
According to the lawsuit, NIKE encouraged the purchase by connecting the value of NFT to the company’s ongoing promotional efforts, so that investors could expect the value of the brand directly with the success of the brand.
This complaint argues that investors have suffered “important damage” after NIKE destroyed the value of tokens after the RTFKT was closed. The lawsuit also argues that NIKE has violated consumer protection and state competition.
After quoting a violation related to unregistered securities marketing, we will pursue $ 5 million in damages that cannot protect investors’ interests after the RTFKT is terminated.
In particular, this case emphasizes the legal uncertainty surrounding the NFT.
The US court has not yet ruled whether NFT is securities, but the main NFT market, OPENSEA, insisted on April 9 to the Securities and Exchange Commission that the NFT should not be the securities regulations.
Despite this extensive debate, the plaintiff argues that the court does not need to solve the state of securities of NFT in order to make a decision on the allegations of NIKE.
Nike NFT values collide after the end of RTFKT
NIKE acquired RTFKT Studios, a virtual sneaker and collection company in 2021.
After the acquisition, Nike announced the “Cryptokick” NFT collection, which was traded at an average price of 3.5 Ether (about $ 8,000) when listed on OpenSea on April 18, 2022.
But after Nike closed RTFKT in January 2025, the average price of the NFT dropped sharply.
On April 21, Nike’s Cryptokick token traded about 0.009 ether or about $ 16.
The lawsuit argues for investors who have purchased NFTs who expect to participate in the future of RTFKT’s challenges and quests due to the collapse of the value.
The plaintiff removes the promised utility function that supports the value proposal of the NFTS due to the closure, and the investor claims that it is left without access to the previously promoted compensation and participation opportunities.
NFT market sales fell 63% in early 2025
The stagnation of the NIKE’s NFT value occurred with a wider slump in the NFT market.
According to the data, global NFT sales decreased to $ 1.5 billion from January to March 2025, down 63% from $ 4.1 billion in the same quarter in 2024.
This shrinkage reflects projects that are closely related to skepticism among investors on NFT’s long -term values, especially brand -oriented over -advertising.
Nike’s situation is added to a series of debates that challenge the home of the sustainability of the digital asset market.
While the debate over the regulatory classification of NFTs continues, cases such as NIKE lawsuits can test new legal arguments without waiting for the official ruling on securities law status.