In recent years, the collectable shoe market has exploded. There was also a market for non-tradable tokens, or NFTs, which acted as digital certificates of ownership for artworks, tattoo designs, and virtual real estate until recently.

The two hypebeast markets were only a matter of time before they collided. In April, Nike released its first virtual shoe line, Cryptokicks, which included 20,000 NFTs, one of which was designed by artist Takashi Murakami and acquired for $134,000 by AliSajwani.

"The physics of NFTs and sneakers are very similar," said Jurgen Alker, who manages the NFT studio for Highsnobiety, a lifestyle website that covers streetwear and sneakers. "Both are based on the themes of starvation and decline. It's all about prestige and belonging in a community."

This is Nike's first foray into the market, as well as its first release with RTFKT (pronounced "work"), the virtual shoe brand it acquired last December. Other shoe behemoths got in on the action as well. Last December, Adidas released the Into the Metaverse NFT collection, which has a limited selection of apparel (but no footwear), including sweatshirts and sweatpants. According to The Verge, this was effectively a digital drop for NFT-savvy Adidas collectors, earning more than $22 million in its first afternoon in cooperation with Bored Ape Yacht Club, Punks Comic, and crypto evangelist GMoney.

Asics has collaborated with STEPN, a fitness program that pays runners with bitcoin for every step they take, to make 1,000 NFT sneakers (think of it as a combination of Pokemon GO and Strava). The virtual sneaker can be worn in the app and offers "gamification" capabilities including sneaker flattening, shoe printing, and NFT personalization, according to Yawn Rong, co-founder of STEPN. In some ways, virtual sneakers are as good as the actual thing when it comes to bragging rights. Collectors can post them on social media or on non-financial trading platforms like OpenSea.

So, what exactly do Nike Cryptokicks purchasers get? It's a little unclear.

The way out was veiled in secrecy. RTFKT released 20,000 NFTs of a mysterious box called MNLTH (pronounced "monolith") in February (vowels are apparently for rookies in the NFT world). The Nike Swoosh and RTFKT's lightning bolt emblem were the only hints as to what was inside. About 8,100 persons who had an NFT from one of RTFKT's prior collections obtained an MNLTH at no additional cost, according to Joe Chui, 39, an NFT analyst in San Francisco who runs the YouTube channel RealTalkFIRE. While no one knew what was inside, anyone else could buy one for around 5 Ether (around $15,000 at the time) on OpenSea. (Nike has declined to comment on many occasions.)

Bryson Honjo, 31, of Honolulu, who runs Untied Hawaii, a YouTube sneaker channel, paid 5 Ether for two MNLTH boxes despite this. "You have to believe this will be another groundbreaking shoe in the same vein as the 1985 Air Jordan 1," Honjo predicted.

After months of speculation, Nike revealed on Twitter, Discord, and other social media platforms on April 22 that holders will be able to "open" their boxes by linking their crypto wallets, where they keep NFTs, to the RTFKT site. Inside, owners discovered a digital image of a generic basketball shoe named the Nike Dunk Genesis Cryptokick, as well as a virtual "skin bottle"—a gleaming tin can that, when plugged into a port on the virtual sneaker's tongue, gives the sneaker its final appearance.

Sneaker value is also determined by leathers. Owners were given one of eight skins at random, ranging from the most common "Human" with fuchsia and black hues to the most rare "Alien" with purple and green hues.

Their secondary market worth fluctuates tremendously depending on rarity. OpenSea contains 5,661 Human bottles with a base price of 0.59 Ether (about $1,154) as of this writing, but crypto prices are volatile. Only 18 Alien bottles are available, with a starting price of 90 Ether (about $176,000). For the time being, Cryptokicks is only available in digital format, which may be viewed on the OpenSea or RTFKT websites. The owners, on the other hand, are hopeful that as new skins are produced, they will be able to mix and match them and wear them in online games and the metaverse.

"It will be big if Nike can bring NFT footwear into games like Fortnite or GTA6," said Highsnobiety's Alker, alluding to Grand Theft Auto VI. "Then you'll be able to extend your footwear not just on the street, but also at games."

Others want to be able to physically discharge their NFT. However, for Honjo, a physical version is virtually beside the purpose.

"The most expensive actual sneaker I possessed was a pair of Nike Air Yeezy 2 Red Octobers," Honjo added, adding that he sold them for $9,000. "In the four years that I've had them, I've only worn them twice. So, given that, is a shoe that's essentially just on display still still a shoe?"

Chui shares these sentiments. Cryptokicks is far more than a virtual sneaker for him.

Chui, who owns two pairs of Cryptokicks, stated, "What thrills me the most is going through this renaissance." "We live in a world where the physical, virtual, gaming, and investment worlds collide in real time."

The original version of this article appeared in The New York Times.