April 27th, according to Reuters, Nike is facing a collective lawsuit from NFT holders due to the abrupt closure of its cryptocurrency business. The plaintiffs, led by Australian resident Jagdeep Cheema, filed a lawsuit in the Brooklyn Federal Court in New York, alleging that Nike’s sudden shutdown of its RTFKT division in December 2024 led to a sharp drop in NFT demand.
The plaintiffs stated that if they had known in advance that these tokens were unregistered securities and that Nike would “suddenly pull out,” they would not have purchased these NFTs at the time’s price, or even purchased them at all. The lawsuit accuses Nike of violating consumer protection laws in New York, California, Florida, and Oregon, seeking damages exceeding $5 million. Nike acquired RTFKT in December 2021 and announced the closure of the business on December 2, 2024.