Nike's launching an NFT marketplace

GM and welcome to Decentra Daily. The newsletter that tracks web3's cutting edge.

Today's stories:

• Nike's launching an NFT marketplace

• A tour of the FTX penthouse

Nike's .Swoosh

Another corporate giant is staking its web3 claim. Nike is launching a new platform called .Swoosh, pitched as a central hub for all its current and future NFT activities.

Nike collectibles and blockchain products will live on Polygon and be available at "many different price points."

If you've been following along, you'll know that's another big brand partnership for Polygon - after the likes of Starbucks, Meta, and the NFL.

Didn't Nike already go web3?

Yeah, they've done web3 stuff before. Nike acquired RTFKT in late 2021 – after the NFT studio demonstrated a neat AR virtual sneaker project.

This led to CryptoKicks, the first digital sneaker collection.

Other Nike forays into web3 include Nikeland, a Roblox store, as well as virtual assets for RTFKT's metaverse avatar project, CloneX.

But .Swoosh looks to be aiming bigger, positioning itself as a place to create and trade Nike digital products as they become available across web3 games and projects.

What will .Swoosh contain?

• Digital sneakers (reportedly for under $50)

• A Nike By You-style customization app

• A marketplace to "create, collect, trade, and flex"

• Virtual t-shirts for RTFKT’s CloneX avatars

• Future wearables for web3 gaming avatars?

Wen?

Nike says its first NFT drop will happen in January 2023, and they'll be opening .Swoosh to users over the coming weeks.

Claiming your ".SWOOSH ID" will be free, and you won't need a crypto wallet to buy collectibles or interact with the ecosystem.

Registrations opens on Friday (18th). Check it out.

SBF lists his penthouse

If you were anywhere near web3 last week, you'll know about the collapse of FTX – the huge cryptocurrency exchange founded by ex-golden boy Sam Bankman-Fried.

Tell me the story once more, will you?

On the outside, FTX was building a reputation as one of the primary crypto onramps.

They ran Super Bowl ads, funded high-profile sponsorships, and powwowed with politicians, all to encourage millions to deposit funds on their centralized exchange.

On the inside – the past weeks revealed – those funds were being siphoned by SBF through a software "back door" into his trading firm Alemada research. 😤

Add some shady dealings concerning FTX's own cryptocurrency, FTT, plus rumors of widespread drug use and romantic relationships among the FTX senior team, and you get to where we are now:

• FTX is bankrupt

• Customers are without funds

• SBF is under "police supervision" in the Bahamas and is reportedly hoping to flee to Dubai

• Michael Lewis has his next bestseller 

Time to sell the condo

A few days after FTX blew up, real estate website Seaside Bahamas listed a $40 million penthouse.

It looks a lot like the 12,000 sq ft apartment inhabited by SBF and a small group of FTX and Alameda employees, who worked, played, and did other gross stuff there.

Called "The Orchid", the marina-side penthouse has its own elevator and garage, along with a spa, pool, and very reasonable maintenance fees of $21,000.

Wait! I thought SBF was an "effective alturist" who drives a Corolla?

Yeah... I think he was lying about that, too.

SBF's personal brand centered on the idea of him being a humble altruist who wears shorts, eats a vegan diet, and drives a Toyota Corolla.

He regularly aligned himself with the Effective Altruism movement – an intellectual community that believes in "finding unusually good" ways of making a positive impact.

Effective altruists try to take the action that creates the most good. So, instead of working a normal job and making regular charity donations, they might become a crypto billionaire so they can give it all away...

At some point in his long, three-year crypto career, SBF's persona may have been more honest – and it's still possible that he was acting with altruistic intentions.

But it's now clear that his make-big-money-to-give-away-big-money approach was morally, as well as literally, bankrupt.

While FTX's charity fund claims to have awarded over $160 million in grants, it's unclear how much has actually been paid. (Especially now the fund's entire staff has resigned 😬)

And nothing says "effective altruist" like Venetian plaster walls, Italian marble, and custom LED lighting, right?

Want a tour?

Here are some pics of the home of FTX's corrupt empire (from the real estate listing). We recommend you don't sit on that couch.

Nothing to see here. Just another Toyota Corolla owner's $39,950,000 apartment.

See you tomorrow!

👋

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