Adidas Announces Coinbase Deal, Just Days After Announcing Its Entry Into the Metaverse

Adidas announced its entry into crypto and the metaverse, all within a week.

By Shomik Sen Bhattacharjee | Updated: 29 November 2021 18:55 IST

Adidas Announces Coinbase Deal, Just Days After Announcing Its Entry Into the Metaverse

Photo Credit: Pexels/ Henry & Co.

Adidas' moves come hot on the heels of Nike's metaverse entry

Highlights

Details of Adidas' partnership with Coinbase remains unclear
The Sandbox revealed that Adidas owns real estate in the metaverse
Adidas plans to follow up on Nike's entry to the metaverse

Adidas, the global sportswear manufacturer, is going all-in on crypto, announcing a partnership with Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, in the same week that it decided to splurge big on a plot of land in the blockchain-based virtual gaming world of The Sandbox. While neither announcements offer any details whatsoever and do little to indicate if there's any intended connection between the two events, it is plausible that the company plans to spend cryptocurrency in The Sandbox; if so, Coinbase could help it make the required investment.

Adidas took to Twitter to state that it is partnering with the crypto exchange Coinbase but revealed little about the nature of the partnership, ending the tweet with a phrase you hear quite often in the crypto world — "Probably nothing." Coinbase confirmed the partnership, as it replied "[Good morning]…Welcome to the party, partner!"

We've partnered with @coinbase.
Probably nothing.
— adidas Originals (@adidasoriginals) November 24, 2021

Adidas also took note of the Ethereum-based VR game The Sandbox and suggested that it would build something in the game's virtual parcels of lands, calling the concept "AdiVerse." Adidas already owns property on The Sandbox, as its name can be seen on a parcel of land at these coordinates. It is unclear whether the company purchased this land, or whether the land was allocated to the company by The Sandbox.

adiVerse anyone? ????

What should we build, together in @TheSandboxGame? ⬇️ https://t.co/VbAdIi9cxN
— adidas Originals (@adidasoriginals) November 22, 2021

In a recent statement from an Adidas spokesperson speaking to City A.M., the company stated that the "metaverse is currently one of the most exciting developments in digital, making it an interesting platform for Adidas."

While that statement in itself is a hint to the company's future plans, it is worth noting that Adidas launch an NFT on POAP very recently suggesting that Coinbase could be related to that effort, especially if the sportswear giant plans to release a larger line of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Meanwhile, Coinbase has been in the midst of trying to launch an NFT marketplace of its own and we could see Adidas use that marketplace to distribute NFTs going forward.

The company could also use Coinbase to accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment, similar to what many other companies have done in the past through Coinbase Commerce, but all of this is mere speculation for now.

Adidas' movement in the space also appears to be a swift reaction to rival-brand Nike, which revealed a virtual world modelled after its headquarters on video game platform Roblox, becoming one of the first big brands to mark an official entry to the metaverse. The digital space, called “Nikeland", allows players to outfit their avatar with special Nike products and is free for anyone to visit on Roblox.

Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.