- Over 19,800 CloneX NFTs became visible again after a temporary Cloudflare blackout that cited terms of service violations.
- RTFKT’s head of tech Samuel Cardillo plans to move CloneX to Arweave‘s decentralized storage to prevent future outages.
- The incident highlights ongoing challenges in the NFT sector, which has seen several marketplace closures in recent months.
Nearly 20,000 CloneX digital avatars from RTFKT Studios have been restored after Cloudflare temporarily restricted access to the NFTs on April 24. Users attempting to view the non-fungible tokens were met with an error message stating: "This content has been restricted. Using Cloudflare’s basic service in this manner is a violation of the Terms of Service."
Samuel Cardillo, RTFKT’s head of technology, denied allegations that the company had missed payments, instead explaining that the issue stemmed from changes to RTFKT’s "current Cloudflare setup." NFT content creator Wale Swoosh had suggested the company may have been using an insufficient Cloudflare plan for high-traffic image Hosting.
The blackout provoked significant backlash from CloneX holders, including one who had invested $1.25 million in a single NFT. In response to the disruption, Cardillo announced plans to move CloneX to a more decentralized solution: "I am working closely with ArDrive to decentralize both CloneX and Animus to ensure that post-30 April, no downtime of your favorite art ever happen again." He later specified that the migration would be to Arweave, a decentralized data storage platform.
RTFKT’s Operations Reduced to “Last Man Standing”
The incident highlights the precarious situation at RTFKT since the Nike-owned company curtailed operations in January. "Keep in mind that I am the last man standing and therefore I am doing it all myself," Cardillo stated while addressing user complaints.
RTFKT, which pioneered virtual sneakers before being acquired by Nike in December 2021, announced its closure with a cryptic letter claiming the brand "isn’t ending" but would become an "artifact of cultural revolution." However, no significant developments have emerged since this announcement.
Broader Challenges in the NFT Marketplace
This disruption occurs amid a broader contraction in the NFT space. Several marketplaces including those operated by DraftKings, GameStop, and crypto exchange Bybit have recently shut down. Bybit specifically cited declining NFT trading volumes when announcing its closure on April 8.
Additionally, X2Y2 has revealed plans to close its NFT marketplace on April 30 as the company pivots toward Artificial Intelligence solutions.
The CloneX incident underscores ongoing infrastructure and centralization challenges facing digital asset owners, even as the industry continues to evolve.
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