There can never be a conversation about the most considerable nonfungible token (NFT) projects currently that does not mention the CloneX collection from RTFKT Studios. These fully 3D avatars have met and exceeded the intense hype that preceded their introduction. Ever since their launch, they have managed to chart a path to NFT glory.
CloneX from RTFKT and Takashi Murakami are among the hottest NFT projects to date.
The CloneX NFT Collection Background
Undoubtedly, a lot of the CloneX NFT collection’s success comes down to its creators. The collaborative ream of RTFKT and Takashi Murakami integrated a wealth of talent and a legion of fans, with all of them eager to join the community of holders.
Takashi Murakami is an iconic Japanese modern artist. Even for the people that do not know this artist by name, there is a considerable chance that they are exposed to the artist’s legendary work; whether via his globally recognizable ‘Flowers’ motif, or through one of his high-profile collabos. To list a few of the names Murakami has worked with before CloneX, there are Vogue, Kanye West, Louis Vuitton, and Pharrell Williams.
Although it is not nearly as established as Murakami, RTFKT had already made an impressive name for itself in the nonfungible token space by the time it unveiled its CloneX NFTs. The firm, launched in 2020, is a sector-leading creative NFT studio. Particularly, RTFKT leverages world-class designs, game engines, and AR to develop one-of-a-kind digital assets.
RTKFT established itself last year, selling $3.1 million worth of its NFT sneakers in February. After that, CloneX became the most notable producer of nonfungible token wearables in the budding space. RTFKT became a hit such that Nike went on to buy it before the end of the year.
Given the status of the established artist and the hot NFT upstarts, this creative team behind the CloneX NFTs was a major recipe for immediate success.
Akira To CloneX
RTFKT first teased the origin of the generative NFT project in September last year. From that moment, the hype among the nonfungible token community for the NFT collection was exploding through the roof. Unveiled under the working title ‘Akira’, RTFKT let it be known that it was creating a collection of 3D metaverse-ready NFT avatars.
Interestingly, RTFKT reserved more than 50% of its mint supply for its earliest NFT collectors. After months of expectation, and a couple of mint day hiccups, the CloneX drop eventually happened at the end of November. CloneX minted for 2 ETH, sold out within minutes, and has not looked back ever since.
A sale of CloneX # 4594 is at the top of the list of the highest CloneX sales to date at 450 ETH.
There are 20,000 RTFKT CloneX NFTs in total, with nearly 9,000 NFT holders. Also, the NFTs are split into 8 DNA types that form the backbone of the CloneX rarity system. To make it clear, every DNA type consumes a different percentage of the total supply. The list of DNA types is Aliens (0.15%), Murakami’s (0.5%), Undeads (0.6%), Reptiles (1.25%), Demons (8.75%), Angels (8.75%), robots (30%), and humans (50%).
The current floor price of CloneX NFTs is 16.9 ETH, which translates to over $40,000 at the time of publication. Furthermore, the project boasts more than 183,000 Ether in total sales volume. That is great to make it the seventh NFT collection on OpenSea’s all-time ranking.
As is the case with most NFT collections in its tier, CloneX has seen incredible sales of its rarest NFTs. At the top of that list is CloneX #4594, which was sold for 450 ETH in February. It translates to nearly $1.3 million at the time of publication.
That was the first CloneX NFT sale that crossed the $1 million mark. It was later followed by another sale bout a week later, CloneX #13134 for 368 ETH. The other top 10 most expensive RTKFT Clone X NFTs all come in more than the ETH equivalent of $500,000.
The Backstory
Most of the NFT projects with heavy sci-fi and futurist elements have some form of lore or a narrative story. RTFKT did exactly that with the CloneX NFTs. To sum everything up, within the world of the nonfungible token, CLONE X Corp is a firm launched by 3 aliens that travel to earth to accelerate human evolution.
They planned to transfer human consciousness into clone forms, to develop the ultimate metaverse. As part of that story, digital avatars are designed to replace people’s physical bodies. Apart from these new identities being entirely customizable, CloneX avatars also let humans travel across the universe, expanding humanity into the cosmos.
RTFKT certainly did a good job syncing up the fictional history of the CloneX avatars, with their function in reality. It represents the efforts the firm made to make the NFTs tailored for the metaverse.
In general, it is quite easy to see how Murakami’s CloneX NFT and RTFKT collaboration has reached its certified blue-chip status.
