Nike Patents ‘CryptoKicks’ Blockchain Shoes

Nike has been awarded a patent by the U.S. Patent Office for the sneaker company’s new blockchain-compatible sneakers, which are called “CryptoKicks,” according to reports.

The CryptoKicks will be attached to a system that will use blockchain to attach digital assets to the actual shoes. Nike’s plan is to be able to track the ownership and legitimacy of the item using the blockchain system.

When a customer buys CryptoKicks, they will get an actual digital asset that is tied directly to the shoe. This will create a sort of digital scarcity, as it will be tied to the actual manufacturing of the sneakers.

“When a consumer buys a genuine pair of shoes, a digital representation of a shoe may be generated, linked with the consumer and assigned a cryptographic token, where the digital shoe and cryptographic token collectively represent a ‘CryptoKick,’” the patent said.

If the sneakers are sold to a different person, ownership can be transferred using the digital assets and system. The assets get stored in a “digital locker,” which functions as a crypto wallet of sorts.

Also, the owners of the shoes will be able to “intermingle or breed the digital shoe with another digital shoe to create ‘shoe offspring’ and have the offspring made as a new, tangible pair of shoes.”

The original patent was filed in April, and although it was awarded, there is no release date mentioned.

In other Nike news, the shoe company is offering 3 percent cash back to Apple Card users when a Nike product is purchased using Apple Pay. The deal applies to all Nike products when purchases are made using the Apple Card through the Nike website, retail stores, Nike Training Club and more. Nike joins Uber/Uber Eats, Walgreens/Duane Reade and T-Mobile stores in offering the top-tier cash back of 3 percent.