Adidas has struck partnerships with the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and the gaming platform The Sandbox, announcing them via Twitter on Nov. 22 and 24, respectively. The strategy behind these moves remains undisclosed, but it stands to reason that the German sportswear giant is seeking to sell branded virtual apparel and other products through The Sandbox – where, as the website reads, “everything you can see in the game can be purchased in the marketplace” – and to explore the world of crypto tokens and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The company could also be preparing to accept payments in cryptocurrency. The Sandbox, which now hosts a 144-parcel Adidas Original space, functions on a token called $SAND, which is based on Ethereum, the blockchain for the Ether cryptocurrency.

At any rate, Adidas is only the latest sportswear company to enter the metaverse. As we have reported, both Vans and Nike have set up virtual worlds on the gaming platform Roblox and Nike has in addition patented a blockchain concept called CryptoKicks.

$SAND rose in value by 600 percent in October, when Facebook announced that it would be changing its name to Meta, and seems to have gotten another boost from Adidas’ announcement, reaching an all-time high of $8 on Nov. 24. As of this writing, a $SAND token is trading for around $6.45.

 

Topics