Nike Airs New Platform and Enters Web3 Space

This week, Nike revealed its newest web3-related investment, ‘.Swoosh‘. According to a new firm home page and campaign, the sports footwear & apparel giant isn’t new to the industry, but the specialized platform targeted towards ‘virtual items’ is on the way later this week.

The company announced .Swoosh, a new Nike landing page and social channels billed as “the home for Nike’s virtual creations,” on Monday. The company is employing the Polygon blockchain, citing the blockchain’s “sustainability-minded approach” and commitment to becoming a carbon-neutral chain this year as reasons for doing so.

Ron Faris, GM of Nike Virtual Studios, said:

“It will be a place where our community can come in and co-create that future with us. You can collect, trade, and flex Nike virtual products. You can go to IRL events with your token-gated virtual creations.”

The exact features of Nike’s new web3 platform remain somewhat a mystery. Nevertheless, currently it is known that wallets on .Swoosh will be offered in collaboration with BitGo, and account creation will be free. There will be virtual attires that may involve actual participation, such as “IRL merchandise and special events.”

“We’re not gonna sell stuff right away,” Faris detailed. “We really want to be careful and thoughtful about how we invite the community in. And so we’re going to start with a month of education—a six-city tour where we’ll be going to select spaces to help educate.”

For the time being, Swoosh is in an invite-only beta phase, which means users will require an access code to participate. The platform is available through mobile or desktop web browser.