Last week, StockX announced that it was getting into NFTs. This is a big deal for both the crypto and sneaker communities, as it leaves an indelible mark on what’s to come by bringing both worlds together.
With brands like Nike and Adidas already having NFT projects under their belts, it makes sense for the mammoth reseller marketplace to enter the fold as well. Comparatively, StockX is setting itself up for its marketplace to host a few different deliverables with NFTs and sneakers that other companies haven’t quite tackled yet.
StockX’s first NFT venture is Vault, which uses tokens as a representation of authenticity and provenance for its sneaker resale market. This is helpful for those who flip sneakers as a speculative asset, where it eliminates having to send authenticated shoes back and forth.
StockX is hoping to use NFTs as a tool to reward top-dollar spenders and collectors. For its first reward, StockX held a giveaway of eight Kaws figurines that only NFT holders could enter. The idea of using NFTs as a way of gating-off and rewarding super-fans has been a growing trend, with StockX looking to utilize its strong community of collectors to reward behaviors those people are already engaging in.
With a heavy emphasis on Vault for its entry into NFTs, StockX’s execution of tying NFTs to sneakers made sense. However, there are a lot of questions remaining about how people are supposed to behave within this marketplace that differs from how other NFT platforms are set up: How are resellers supposed to price-in this “value add” of an NFT? What NFTs will be sold separately from sneakers? Will users be able to resell NFTs they buy off StockX on other platforms like OpenSea? Let’s break down what we know.
StockX announced Vault as its first offering, with more digital assets to come in the future.
Currently, Vault has 559 NFTs tied to sneakers for sale. Editions range from 1-of-1 for the A Ma Maniere x Air Jordan 3 Retro and Off-White x Nike Dunk Low “Lot 50” to 100 for shoes like the Kaws x Sacai x Nike Blazer Low and white-and-black Nike Dunk Low Retro.
Vault ties NFTs to shoes as a certificate of ownership and authenticity. This helps mitigate the steps of shipping and authentication for people who use StockX with the intent of reselling/trading shoes as alternative assets. For those who actually want to wear the shoes, the NFT is “burned” (where a token is sent to a wallet that can only “receive” them, effectively destroying it), and you can request for the shoes to be shipped (since the token is destroyed, you get the real shoes).