How the crypto slump affects brands’ NFT strategies – AdAge.com

The cryptocurrency market has experienced a staggering fall in value over the past week, shedding more than $130 billion on Monday alone. Reverberations of this sell-off—the steepest trip in a months-long decline—have extended to the marketing world, where brands are increasingly activating NFTs, which are often purchased with crypto coins. 

With NFTs mainly being a tactic to reach new customers and engage in novel ways, how the public views this technology and the greater crypto space is important.

On the flip side, the drop in crypto’s value is resulting in discounted prices for NFTs, which could actually spur brands to more deeply invest in the collectibles. Ether, the coin backed by the Ethereum blockchain and the most popular currency on the NFT marketplace, OpenSea, lost roughly 24% of its value in the last seven days, as of press time.

Overall, brands seem to be embracing the volatility in the crypto market, equating it to growing pains in a nascent industry, and have plans to stick to their NFT goals.

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Adidas, which dropped its first collection of tokens in December with Bored Ape Yacht Club, sees a distinction between the destinies of crypto and NFTs.

“Original thinkers and doers will be here long after any tech era or financial wave. We aren’t betting on cryptocurrency—we are betting on the originality of digital artists, designers, and collectors now and for years to come,” Erika Wykes-Sneyd, VP of brand communications at Adidas Originals, said in an email.

“Since the ‘decline’ of crypto showing in November, activity in the NFT market (OpenSea) has blown through all-time highs, both in active users and trading volume, which to us, demonstrates that NFTs are about more than money,” she continued. “They connect us in networks with shared purpose, and that’s what this space is about: authentic connection.”

Despite doubling down on digital tokens through a recent crowdsourced art project, Adidas has already seen the shady side of the space. Some buyers from its Bored Ape Yacht Club collection were unable to mint their NFTs, and one buyer grabbed too many, forcing the brand to pause the minting process. 

Fox Entertainment, which formed a new business unit called Blockchain Creative Labs last year to help its partners build and launch NFT projects, isn’t phased by the recent crypto slump, citing long-term potential as the real payoff in the space. 

“BCL remains bullish on NFTs and are in it for the long haul,” Scott Greenberg, CEO of Blockchain Creative Labs, said via email. “It’s early days of Web3, with major growth opportunities in blockchain and token applications in media and the creative community … There is great long-term promise and value of digital goods.”

Gap released its first batch of NFTs earlier this month, with the latest auction occurring this past Monday. Gap’s NFTs were minted on the Tezos blockchain, whose XTZ coin is down roughly 28% in the last seven days, as of press time. Many of these tokens are still available on the secondary marketplace Objkt.

“Volatility is expected; at this stage we are testing and learning and are focused on the possibilities this technology unlocks for customer engagement,” a Gap spokesperson said over email.

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