Earlier today, a heated debate erupted on X (previously called Twitter) after some crypto and non-fungible token users noticed a strange error on the Clone X non-fungible token collections. Surprisingly, there is no visible art in the Clone X NFT collection, with non-fungible token holders left only broken links and NFT production numbers. In this article, we shall exclusively discuss this controversial incident in depth.
> Be CloneX
> Make $81.3M from NFT sales
> Get another $37.8M from royalties
> Airdrop sneaker coupons
> Go silent
> Shut down
> Don’t pay for servers
> Holders left with a broken link and a dream pic.twitter.com/rSWxHrTWte— Pix🔎 (@PixOnChain) April 24, 2025
The Rise And Fall Of RTFKT
Founded in 2020 and closed in November 2024, RTFKT was a renowned digital asset incubation studio, acknowledged for leveraging in-game engines, world-class design, and AR to create one-of-a-kind digital assets. In 2021, RTFKT became such a big hit that Nike acquired it before the year’s end. The NFT studio continued to establish itself in 2021, selling over $3.1 million worth of its NFT sneakers.
— RTFKT (@RTFKT) December 2, 2024
RTFKT skyrocketed in fame after the launch of the Clone X non-fungible token collection. There were 20,000 RTFKT CloneX NFTs hosted on the Ethereum blockchain network. Further, the NFTs were split into eight DNA types, which formed the CloneX rarity system. Each DNA type took a different percentage of the total supply. Humans took 50%, robots (30%), Angels (8.75%), Demons (8.75%), Reptiles (1.25%), Undeads (0.6%), Murakamis (0.5%), and Aliens (0.15%).
The CloneX NFT collection continued to gain traction among traders, with its floor price value surging to record heights. At the time, CloneX recorded some jaw-breaking sales from its rarest NFTs. At the top of the list was CloneX #4594, which sold for 450 ETH in 2022. CloneX #13134 sold for 368 ETH. The rest of the top 10 most expensive Clone X NFTs traded over $500,000 worth of ETH. Besides the CloneX NFT collection, RTFKT has since launched many NFT collections.
What Went Wrong?
In December 2024, Nike announced the closure of its once-promised next-gen sneakers studio after failing to cope with the volatile non-fungible token market. Despite making more than $81 million from NFT sales, getting another $37.8 million from royalties, and selling Airdrop sneaker coupons, the RTFKT team has now gone silent to NFT holders. Unfortunately, the NFT studio has even failed to pay server fees, leaving CloneX NFT holders with a broken link.
I don’t think they actually did anything intentionally (besides shutting down the project) – they just stopped paying service bills or just canceled subscriptions
— siw0.eth (@siw0bbyte) April 24, 2025
Several crypto users and influencers have described this move as another form of a rug pull. In the world of crypto and DeFi (Decentralized Finance), a “rug pull” is a scam where project developers or creators of a new cryptocurrency, token, or NFT suddenly abandon the project and withdraw all funds invested, leaving investors with worthless digital assets. In the Meantime, it’s not confirmed whether the “Error 404” in the CloneX NFT collection is a result of technical issues or not.
Did @RTFKT Clone X rug their art?
Nike, who acquired RTFKT in December 2021 for a reported $300M+, sunset the company’s operations just three years later in December 2024.
Now the art has disappeared. There’s probably a solid conversation about on-chain art to be had here. pic.twitter.com/o6c93yPoVK
— Steve 🤙 (@SteveKBark) April 24, 2025
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