Nike was hit by a class lawsuit that accuses the giant sportswear of running a rug pull for the shutter of its non-to-Token (NFT) Platform RTFKT in January.
A group of RTFKT users led by Jagdeep Cheema claimed in the suggested class suit Filed In a Brooklyn federal court on April 25 they experienced “significant damage” as a result of Nike touting the NFT-themed sneakers to get investors, then shutter the platform.
The suit announced that NFTs were unregistered security, as Nike sold them without registering with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It has accused the company of using “The iconic brand and marketing bravery to shape, promote, and promote unregistered security saved by RTFKT.”
“Because the Nike NFTs got their value from the success of a given advocate and project – here, Nike and its marketing efforts – investors bought this digital asset with hope that its value will increase in the future as the project grows in popularity based on the Nike brand,” the lawsuit won.
The lawsuit demands $ 5 million in injuries, claiming Nike broke consumer protection laws and violated various trading and competition laws.
A US court does not certainly ruled out if the NFTs are security. However, in a letter on April 9 in the SEC, the Marketplace Opensea urged the regulator to exclude NFT from the laws of federal security, contingent that they did not meet the legal meaning of a security.
In its case against Nike, the class group said the court did not necessarily rule out NFT's legal status to address the complaint.
Nft market value dips
In 2021, Nike obtained NFT firm RTFKT Studios, which created virtual sneakers.
According to the complaint, holders of the resulting Nike NFT have told the tokens can be exchanged peer-to-peer in the second market and used to complete challenges and adventures that could lead to rewards.
Nike's Crypto Kick collection changes hands for an average of 3.5 ether (ETH), or around $ 8,000 when they first listed on April 18, 2022, but exchanged around 0.009 ether, or approximately $ 16 to April 21, According to In the opening.
Nike closed the RTFKT in January, which the class suit claimed to have identified investors when “prices failed and no longer recovered,” and also took the opportunity to participate in challenges and adventures, which the group disputed was a major reason for buying tokens.
Related: RTFKT's Clonex Avatar will reappear after issuing Blacks Out NFT
The general NFT market dropped dramatically in the first quarter of 2025, with sales selling 63% year-on-year, up to $ 1.5 billion in total sales from January to March 2025, down from $ 4.1 billion in the same period in 2024.
Nike did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
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