Adidas Originals reaches second spot on OpenSea rankings with debut NFT collection
Read the full article by Ornella Hernandez here
In a collaborative NFT project, Adidas Originals, gmoney, Bored Ape Yacht Club and PUNKS Comic make $43 million in 72 hours.
In its debut weekend, the first NFT from Adidas Originals’ "Into the Metaverse" project has generated 11,391 Ether (ETH), worth over $43 million, on OpeanSea. Ranked by trading volume, this collection has earned the second spot on OpeanSea after RTFKT’s Clone X and Takashi Murakami collection.
Takashi Murakami, (born February 1, 1962, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese artist and entrepreneur widely recognized for his ability to adapt the aesthetics of Japanese traditional art to operate within the context of popular culture.
Murakami studied Japanese painting at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1986 and a Ph.D. in 1993. After completing his studies, he increasingly displayed his works in solo and group exhibitions, making his European debut in 1995 in “TransCulture,” held at the 46th Venice Biennale. The following year Murakami’s paintings and sculptures were featured most notably at the second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art at the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane, Australia.
Takashi Murakami has created the album art for Kanye West’s new joint album with Kid Cudi, Kids See Ghosts. Cudi revealed the new art in an early morning Tweet.
This is the second collaboration between West and Murakami, who previously designed the cover of West’s hit 2007 album Graduation.
In collaboration with Bored Ape Yacht Club, PUNKS Comic and gmoney, Adidas Originals co-created one digital asset and put up 30,000 copies of the same item for sale on Dec. 17. Almost 20,000 copies of the Phase 1 NFT have been sold so far.
Related: Adidas Originals to launch debut NFT collection
According to the company, $15.5 million was made during the Early Access mint that had to pause and restart after several hours due to technical issues with Mutant Ape Yacht Club not being able to mint.
This NFT is not a collector’s item but an access token that provides its owner with exclusive access to virtual wearables in the Sandbox gaming metaverse and the ability to redeem corresponding physical products in 2022.
Owners of the NFT could also receive a physical version of the PUNKS Comic Issue 2: X Marks the Drop, a graphic story about all the characters in the collection. The comic is also available separately for purchase on PUNKS Comic's OpenSea profile. PUNKS Comic's developer team Pixel Vault reportedly took a portion of the proceeds of the OpenSea sale and put it back into the PUNKS community treasury.
After tweeting about a partnership with Coinbase and showcasing its own Sandbox land plot, Adidas has firmly planted its sneakers in the metaverse with the success of its exclusive NFT drop. Rival Nike has also expanded its digital footprint by partnering with the virtual sneakers and collectibles brand RTFKT, the top trending OpenSea collection at the time of publication.