Adidas closed its first NFT sale ever with profits exceeding the $23 million mark by selling 29,620 NFTs from its "Into the Metaverse" collection. The German sportswear brand's move into the digital assets world comes as no surprise now that the NFT market has exploded and the world makes a push towards the Metaverse.
Adidas Originals' Into the Metaverse Raked In Millions
According to The Block, the German sportswear giant made 5,924 ETH from selling 29,620 NFTs from its Into the Metaverse collection. This equates to roughly around $23.5 million. The new collection is a collaborative project involving Adidas, Bored Ape Yacht Club, the crypto-focused media group PUNKS Comic, and NFT collector gmoney.
The early access minting stage began on December 17, 2021, minting 20,000 NFTs for 0.2 ETH each, or $15.5 million, and finished around 5 PM of the same day. It then made $7.5 million in a general sale, while Adidas and its partners held on to 380 NFTs for future events.
Although NFTs are often associated with figures surpassing the millions of dollars on the news, the Into the Metaverse figures are very relevant. Not only because it was the first Adidas NFT drop ever, but because Adidas made some $538.4 million during its latest quarter, making $23 million from a limited digital release quite significant.
Holders of Into the Metaverse NFTs get both physical and digital perks. On one side, they will get access to physical merchandise in 2022. And on the other, they will be able to attend virtual events in the Metaverse throughout 2022 and beyond, as reported by Crypto Briefing.
The move by Adidas Originals should not surprise us at all. Many big companies like Nike, Gucci, Coca-Cola, Disney, etc., are dedicating resources or actively participating in NFTs.
As stated by CNBC, Nike has already filed trademark applications in preparation to sell virtual sneakers and clothing. On the other hand, Adidas already bought a piece of virtual real estate from the blockchain-based virtual world, The Sandbox, and called it "adiVerse."
Adidas Is Jumping on the Metaverse Bandwagon
Despite some technical shortcomings, everyone agrees that the sale was a general success, earning as much as $23 million in a single sitting. Even if the profits are split among the project's partners, this could be just the first taste of what Adidas' profits will look like once the adiVerse is in full swing.