Footwear giant Nike patented shoes that are tokenized as a non-fungible token (NFT) on the Ethereum blockchain, dubbed CryptoKicks.

The patent — dated Dec. x — describes a digital asset for footwear and ways to use it. One implementation of the engineering described in the certificate is an Ethereum ERC721 or ERC1155 token used to authenticate and transact a physical shoe.

Shoes on the blockchain

The token would be "unlocked" with the buy of a corresponding physical shoe by linking a 10-digit shoe identification code with the owner identification code. The system plain aims to provide a way to ensure the authenticity of the appurtenances, equally described in the patent:

"Prospective and electric current owners [...] may buy and sell digital assets through 1 or more blockchain ledgers operating on the decentralized computing system. [...] By way of example, and not limitation, a user may purchase a new pair of highly sought after sneakers from a verified vendor who may provide authenticated provenance records for the sneakers. [...] After receiving the shoe box containing the purchased sneakers, the user scans the box UPC with a barcode browse characteristic in a sneakers app operating on the user's smartphone."

Interestingly, Nike also suggests that token creation may be linked to shoe sales, which would besides allow for the verification of the scarcity of the shoes in apportionment. The patent reads:

"When a consumer buys a genuine pair of shoes a digital representation of a evidence may be generated, linked with the consumer, and assigned a cryptographic token, where the digital shoe and cryptographic token collectively represent a 'CryptoKick.'"

When the footwear is sold, ownership of the digital token tin can exist passed on alongside the physical product. The property of those tokens would exist managed in a dedicated app, also looking to enhance make engagement.

Nike to allow breeding shoes on blockchain

The patent also borrows ideas from pop blockchain collectible cats game CryptoKitties. More precisely, it suggests that the shoes tin be bred:

"Using the digital nugget, the buyer is enabled to securely merchandise or sell the tangible pair of shoes, trade or sell the digital shoe, store the digital shoe in a cryptocurrency wallet or other digital blockchain locker, intermingle or "breed" the digital shoe with another digital shoe to create "shoe offspring," and, based on rules of acceptable shoe manufacturability, have the newly bred shoe offspring custom made equally a new, tangible pair of shoes."

Every bit blockchain becomes more mature and big companies appoint with the engineering more, development in the manufacture is accelerating. Still, experts warn that this is an industry in which the United states of america is not at the forefront.

Recent reports evidence that when it comes to the number of patent applications in the blockchain space, China is handily outpacing other countries, including the U.s..