Day: December 13, 2021

Nike Acquires Non-Fungible Sneaker Studio RTFKT

by Cryptobriefing

Key Takeaways

  • Nike has acquired RTFKT, a non-fungible token studio with a collection that includes virtual sneaker collectibles.

  • According to OpenSea, RTFKT has 561 NFTs in its own collection and has created at least 1000 others.

  • It is unclear whether the acquisition is related to various NFT and crypto-related patents filed by Nike last month.




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Nike announced today that it has acquired RTFKT, a virtual sneaker design company and a studio for non-fungible tokens.

Nike Acquires RTFKT

RTFKT was founded in 2020 to create virtual sneaker designs for use in online games and, now, the Metaverse. The group provided designs for game companies and fashion designers before moving into NFT (or “cryptocollectible”) designs last year.

The group’s OpenSea page says that RTFKT has 561 NFTs in its own collection and has created at least 1000 others. Its most notable series is a line of virtual sneakers designed around CryptoPunks, one of which sold for 3.2 ETH (over $12,000) today.



Nike President and CEO John Donahoe wrote that the acquisition is part of the company’s attempts to engage with digital culture. He added that Nike will gain a “talented team of creators with an authentic and connected brand” through the acquisition.

RTFKT wrote that “NIKE is the only brand in the world we always looked up to and got inspired by when starting RTFKT.” It also explained that it will continue to expand its brand and image under Nike.

Nike Filed Patents Last Month

In November, Nike filed patents for technologies that appeared to be related to non-fungible tokens. It also began to work on another NFT project called “CryptoKicks” in December 2019. It is unclear whether today’s news is related to these other efforts.


Nevertheless, the timing of the news—combined with each group’s closely aligned goals—suggests that RTFKT plans to make some of Nike’s most recent patents into a reality.

Nike is just one of several major companies with its eyes on NFTs. Others include its competitor Adidas, as well as more distant companies like Ubisoft, Facebook, Time Magazine, and Visa.

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and other cryptocurrencies.

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Wells Fargo and HSBC to Use Blockchain to Settle Forex Transactions

by CryptoPotato

Wells Fargo – a leading American financial services organization – and HSBC Bank – a major British monetary institution – will employ a blockchain-based product to settle matched foreign exchange (Forex) transactions.

Through the partnership, the two entities will use a shared ledger to process operations with US dollars, Canadian dollars, British pounds, and Euros. There are also plans to extend to additional currencies in the near future.

Blockchain in Forex Transactions

According to a recent press release, applying blockchain technology will provide the two banking giants with transparency of settlement status for matched Forex transactions in the aforementioned currencies. The solution will allow both entities to utilize Payment-vs-Payment (PvP) operations and is expected to reduce the risks and costs of processing foreign exchange settlements.

Mark Jones – Co-Head of Macro at Wells Fargo – revealed this is the first time when blockchain technology has been employed in such a manner:

“We are pleased to announce that we will be utilizing blockchain technology for the first time in the settlement process of cross-border payments. We are extremely excited to be collaborating with HSBC on a project which places both organizations at the forefront of blockchain innovation. We believe this will be the first step of many utilizing transformative technology across our industry in the years ahead.”

Apart from reducing the risks, the shared ledger should also enhance settlement speed and efficiency by using blockchain technology. Wells Fargo and HSBC will be able to accumulate bilateral payment obligations. The opportunity builds on HSBC’s FX Everywhere platform, which has transacted over three million intrabank trades worth over $2.5tn since its launch in 2018.

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The British institution raised hopes to expand the system by adding more participants and introducing a central Financial Market Infrastructure (FMI) provider to manage the platform’s standards.

Mark Williamson – Global Head of FX Partnerships & Propositions at HSBS – said:

“As financial services continue to digitize the store of payment and value on blockchain, we are delighted to work with Wells Fargo in the adoption of this important cross-border digital backbone for the confirmation and settlement of Foreign Exchange trades.”

Wells Fargo and its Crypto Endeavors

Earlier this year, the Wall Street behemoth filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to register a designated Bitcoin fund. To launch the initiative, it partnered with FS Investments and New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG).

Later on, in October, Elliptic – a London-based blockchain analytics firm – secured $60 million in Series C funding led by Wells Fargo and the Japanese investment manager – SoftBank. The company announced it would use the funds to accelerate cryptocurrency adoption by global financial markets.

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Here’s the Real Reason Bitcoin and Crypto Markets Are Cooling Off, According to Macro Guru Raoul Pal

by Dailyhodl

Macro guru Raoul Pal says there may be a specific reason why crypto markets have largely stalled out for the last half of 2021.

In a new interview from Real Vision with journalist Maggie Lake, Pal speculates that the explosive crypto rally he and many investors are expecting hasn’t yet materialized because retail traders simply don’t have enough cash on hand. 

“Something feels news new… It’s been choppier basically since March to May when Bitcoin topped first, then Ethereum. They really haven’t broken out again. So they’ve been in this big kind of sloppy range that goes up and down a lot. I’ve been thinking about that, because normally at this point in the crypto cycle, you would have seen mass retail participation and this explosive run. I was expecting it, as was many. It hasn’t materialized. Why?

Is there a structural change in the market, or is it because crypto is discretionary spending or a discretionary investment? If you raise prices on people, they have less money – retail participation – to put into crypto. 

We have not seen the kind of number of new wallets and all of the other metrics follow when we had the recent high, and it makes me think that people don’t have money to put in.”

Pal discounts the idea that the reason smaller investors aren’t jumping into crypto is that they see it as too risky. According to the former Goldman Sachs executive, most people view crypto as more of a long-term hedge against currency debasement.

“They do not see it as a risk asset because the narrative is like, this is a long-term inflation hedge. It’s not traditional inflation. It’s actually about central bank debasement…

In the end, we’re talking about inflation that’s running at 6% to 7% a year, but Bitcoin is up by 100% and Ethereum’s up 500%…

What it is is a long-term method for side-stepping the devaluation of the fiat currency along with, more importantly, a call option on the future technology and web3 and all the new things that have been built.”

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‘Astonishing’ Crypto Algorithm Shows Traders Are Bullish on Bitcoin, Ethereum and Two Gaming Altcoins

by Dailyhodl

An autonomous bot known for outperforming the crypto market using weekly surveys from traders shows a bullish leaning towards Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and two additional gaming altcoins.

The Real Vision Bot was co-developed by quant analyst and hedge fund CEO Mortiz Seibert as a way to obtain signals and trader sentiment from fans of the financial content platform Real Vision.

According to Real Vision, the bot has had an ‘astonishing’ record as it outperforms the aggregated bucket of top 20 cryptos by more than 20%, simply by taking surveys from traders.

This week, the survey’s results show that traders mostly prefer a portfolio that is overweight in Ethereum (ETH), with 84% of respondents selecting ETH as their number one coin to go heavy on.

In second place was smart contract platform Solana (SOL), followed by king crypto Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum-scaling solution Polygon (MATIC).

In fifth place was the virtual reality platform Decentraland (MANA), with 43% of traders preferring to be overweight on its MANA token. Another altcoin on the Real Vision Bot’s top 10 is Enjin Coin (ENJ), the utility token for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Enjin ecosystem, with roughly 30% of respondents wanting their portfolio to be overweight in ENJ.

Also showing up high on the list was Terra (LUNA), Polkadot (DOT), Chiliz (CHZ), Fantom (FTM), Chainlink (LINK) and Avalanche (AVAX).

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Source: Real Vision Bot/Twitter

Participants in the Real Vision Bot’s surveys don’t necessarily have to own the crypto in question in order to cast a vote for it. In an interview with Real Vision, the bot’s co-creator Moritz Seibert describes it as a “hive mind” that is able to beat other entities in the crypto ecosystem.

“This bot is really fascinating because it started as a research project, where we linked it up with a Real Vision Exchange to run paper portfolios based on weekly surveys, where what we wanted to find out is if there’s a Real Vision hive mind that can beat the markets and that can also beat the interviewees, the professionals that are interviewed on the Real Vision platform.

And so, as it turns out, there is a hive mind crypto portfolio that’s far ahead of the bot run crypto portfolio and the experts and the market.”

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Nike Moves Deeper Into The Metaverse By Acquiring Virtual Sneaker Designer RTFKT

by Forbes

Nike is taking another step into the metaverse by acquiring RTFKT Studios, a virtual sneaker and collectibles startup.

While the deal is already being seen by many as Nike’s way of saying “Just Do It” to the Web3 era, it’ll also likely signal to NFT startups and legacy clothing brands alike that the world of virtual fashion will further heat up in 2022.

Founded in 2019, RTFKT has becoming increasingly popular with sneaker and Web3 enthusiasts, and has gained momentum during the NFT boom that began earlier this year. In February, the startup released several virtual sneaker designs in collaboration with the artist Fewocious and quickly made more than $3 million buy selling more than 600 pairs that can’t even be worn in the physical world. In March, it partnered with Atari on a limited edition Atari-themed virtual sneaker. And just last month, RTFKT partnered with the artist Takashi Murakami on an NFT auction to sell 20,000 3D avatars that are a part of the CloneX collection.

Terms were not disclosed, but Nike President and CEO John Donahoe said in a statement that the deal “accelerates Nike’s digital transformation and allows us to serve athletes and creators at the intersection of sport, creativity, gaming and culture.”

“We’re acquiring a very talented team of creators with an authentic and connected brand,” Donahoe said. “Our plan is to invest in the RTFKT brand, serve and grow their innovative and creative community and extend Nike’s digital footprint and capabilities.”  

Nike and rival Adidas have both invested in Web3 topics in recent months. In September, Nike built a Nikeland experience and virtual showroom inside of the popular game Roblox. (Long before that, Jordan Brand collaborated back in 2019 with Fortnite.) In November, Adidas confirmed a new partnership with Coinbase and the crypto-enabled virtual platform The Sandbox. And earlier this month, Adidas expanded its NFT collaborations by announcing new partnerships with Bored Ape Yacht Club, Punks Comic and Gmoney. Nike has also filed multiple trademarks and patents with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to have its logo used in the form of virtual footwear, clothing, headwear and other products and apparel. 

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Since starting RTFKT in 2019, cofounders Benoit Pagotto, Chris Le and Steven Vasilev have raised $9.5 million, according to Crunchbase, including an $8 million seed round with participation by Andreesen Horowtiz and Shrug Capital. In a joint statement with Nike, Pagotto said Nike “is the only brand in the world that shares the deep passion we all have for innovation, creativity and community.”

“This is a unique opportunity to build the RTFKT brand and we are excited to benefit from Nike’s foundational strength and expertise to build the communities we love,” Pagotto said.

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Crypto Bull Cathie Wood Says Ethereum Is More Undervalued Than Bitcoin

by NEWSBTC

The Bitcoin versus Ethereum debate has been going on for years and waxes stronger as the market grows. Pitting the two top cryptocurrencies against each other has been one of the greatest pastimes for the market. However, not everyone subscribes to the school of thought that they are in competition.

ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood is known in the crypto space for giving her outlook on Bitcoin but Ethereum has been largely left out of the conversation. Wood is mostly known in the space for her bitcoin at $500,000 prediction, which she has stood by at various points.

Related Reading | Why “Bitcoin Creator” Craig Wright Came Out Ahead Despite Having To Pay $100 Million

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The CEO has always expressed that she believed that bitcoin is still largely undervalued and has a lot of growing to do in the coming years. However, Wood has pointed out that number 1 altcoin ethereum is even more undervalued than bitcoin.

Ethereum Is Still Undervalued

Wood was on CNBC’s Squawk Box to talk about the crypto market. On the show, the CEO expressed that ethereum was still greatly undervalued. She put this in perspective using bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency in the market, which she believes is still greatly undervalued. Wood explained that as undervalued as bitcoin is, ethereum is still way undervalued compared to it.

One of the major reasons behind investments in ethereum has been the utility of the digital asset. Decentralized finance (DeFi) has seen tremendous success despite been only a year old and ethereum hosts the majority of DeFi activities. Wood reiterated the fact that DeFi was the driving force behind the digital asset’s success.

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“The fact that it is the venue, or the protocol, for DeFi and for NFTs suggests to us that it is even more undervalued than Bitcoin is, just because there are new worlds growing up on top of it.”

Ethereum price chart from TradingView.com

ETH price recoers above $4,000 | Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com

According to the CEO, ethereum is still in its infancy and has a long way to go, whereas bitcoin has already been established for being a monetary system. She added that institutions are going to move more into DeFi and NFTs, which would “accelerate” its growth.

Still Bullish On Bitcoin

Wood did not fail to reiterate her stance on bitcoin. The CEO noted that institutional investors were moving into the digital asset. Bitcoin has become impossible to ignore and Wood explained that institutions have to explore it. “Institutional managers have to look at new asset classes that are evolving and that have low correlation,” the CEO said. “That’s the Holy Grail in terms of asset allocation.”

Related Reading | Galaxy Digital CEO Explains Why Ethereum Is Outperforming Bitcoin

Bitcoin has no doubt had a good run in its over a decade of existence. However, Cathie Wood expects even more growth for the asset. Last month, the CEO expressed that with institutions moving more into bitcoin, it could rise to as high as $500,000 in the next five years.

Featured image from Crypto Adventure, chart from TradingView.com

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Look out below! Analysts eye $40K Bitcoin price after today’s dip to $45.7K

by Cointelegraph

On Monday, Bitcoin’s short-term outlook worsened after the price fell to an intra-day low at $45,672, a far cry from the weekend’s promising rally above the $50,000 level. 

With the year nearly complete, and all-time highs nearly 33% away, traders are most likely readjusting their expectations and pushing the $100,000 BTC target a bit further into 2022.

Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360

Day traders, 4-hour chart watchers and over-leveraged longs are likely freaking out (unless they went short from $50,000 over the weekend or at this morning’s weakness), but let’s zoom out a little bit to see where Bitcoin price stands.

BTC/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

On the daily timeframe, we can see the price struggling to breakout away from the trend of daily lower highs and aside from the Dec. 4 drop to $42,000, traders appear apprehensive to buy into the most recent dips.

Tracking moving averages has always been a relatively simple way to swing trade BTC and currently the 20-day moving average (blue) is below the the 50-day MA (orange). Some traders simply buy when an asset secures a few daily closes above the 20-MA and sell when the price falls below it because this is a sign that the short-term trend is weakening.

Following this practice, momentum traders might wait for BTC to secure a daily close above the moving average at $53,000 before opening new long positions. More risk averse traders might consider waiting for convergence between the 20- and 50-MA as a clearer sign of a trend reversal. Taking a quick look at the last year of price action proves that the strategy is pretty effective.

Why some traders expect more downside

More experienced traders know that Bitcoin price has a tendency to make double tops, M-tops and head and shoulders patterns after hitting new all-time highs. Lately, analysts on crypto Twitter have pointed to what they perceive to be a double top, which is a clear trend reversal pattern.

BTC/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

Looking at the daily time frame, we can begin to see what looks like the start of a head and shoulders pattern. The current dips and following consolidation could eventually complete the right shoulder, with a neckline at $41,500, and a price target near a number so unbelievably low that it won’t be written here.

Traders will also notice that the neckline of said head and shoulders pattern aligns with a wide gap on the Volume Profile Visible Range (VPVR) indicator, which shows increased buying interest right at the $40,000 level.

At the moment, it’s too early to make too much fuss about the existence of a H&S pattern, especially since analysis of price action cannot be determined by a single indicator, but it is still something worth noting.

Data from an on-chain analysis outlet, Whalemap, also pinpoints the $40,000 level as an area to watch closely. While speaking to Cointelegraph, Whalemap co-founder Andy Bohutsky said,

“Basically, if we start closing daily candles below the support outlined above, we will probably go to a lower one. The closest below us is around $40,000.”

While Bitcoin’s current price action does little to inspire confidence in traders who bought higher or expected price to trade in the $74,000 to $80,000 range in December, analyst Mohit Sorout recently pointed out that phases of negative funding have proven to be great buying opportunities.

On the daily timeframe the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) and Relative Strength Index (RSI) are also oversold, both of which have historically pointed to accumulation phases and good opportunities to dollar cost average into fresh long positions.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.