Web3 Adoption Report: How Nike and Reddit Are Building in Web3
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Web3 Adoption Report: How Nike and Reddit Are Building in Web3
Web2 and traditional enterprises have advantages in traffic ownership; how to revitalize existing traffic through Web3 is a direction worth exploring.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Harry Liu, CEO of Forj
Translation: Wayne Zhang, Forj Volunteer
Preface
As more and more Web2 brands enter Web3, adoption of Web3 is growing rapidly, delivering substantial returns to early adopters. Five brands have already surpassed $10 million in NFT revenue alone, and Reddit, a Web2 social entertainment platform, now has more NFT holders than OpenSea. In this report, we will dive deep into two case studies—Nike and Reddit—summarize their experiences and lessons learned, and uncover the trends, opportunities, and challenges behind mass Web3 adoption.
Successful Cases of Web3 Adoption
Under the influence of Web3 culture, core components of Web3 are shaping unique consumer behaviors. Fueled by emerging technologies, exciting new renaissances are unfolding across digital art, fashion, sports, music, gaming, and digital identity. Many Web2 brands are drawn to Web3 to expand their brand and IP presence, simultaneously spreading and accelerating Web3 adoption within the Web2 world.
According to Dune data, Nike leads the top 10 with $185 million in revenue, far ahead of others. We will analyze this brand’s experience and lessons in Part Four. The top 10 brands by NFT revenue are shown below. Among the Top 10, many brands have engaged in notable NFT collaborations—for example, Nike with RTFKT (which it acquired), Tiffany & Co. with CryptoPunks, and Gucci with BAYC and 10KTF.
Beyond revenue as a quantitative metric, we have identified other successful adopters using alternative metrics, who are also driving forward Web3 adoption.
Case Study: RTFKT and Nike
Nike first entered Web3 through RTFKT's Meta Pigeon—an exclusive NFT designed for OGs. It then launched CloneX, featuring iconic Clone X DNA, linked to physical products ranging from hats to jackets and sneakers. Users can unlock full digital and physical items via their NFTs, with each Clone holder able to mint up to two DNA collectibles. Additionally, they offer customized digital sneakers and AR filters.
Beyond physical product integration with NFTs, Nike also provides open-source 3D files, empowering NFT holders and the community with innovative tools while preparing for the RTFKT metaverse.
Additionally, inspired by Yuga Labs, the RTFKT metaverse continued with Phase Two—the "Animus Egg Drop"—offering 20,000 Eggs to CloneX holders and 10,000 Eggs to community members. They also integrated RTFKT into product advertising. The new community experience, SWOOSH, gives the community and users opportunities to co-create Nike’s future.
Besides Nike, four other brands have crossed the $10 million threshold. Strategy, timing, audience targeting, and storytelling are key factors influencing activation and sustained engagement.
From the success of Web2 brands, we can identify clear Web3 utility use cases. From blending virtual and physical products to building community culture, Web2 brands’ adoption of Web3 is multidimensional and highly transformative.
Case Study: Reddit and Its 3 Million “Web3” New Users
Beyond traditional Web2 brands like Nike and Tiffany, native Web2 platforms are also beginning to benefit from Web3 and drive further adoption. Reddit, an entertainment, social, and news website, brought 3 million users into “Web3” within just one month. The term “Web3” is in quotes because many users weren’t directly aware of Web3—they simply created wallets on Reddit and bought or traded NFTs. At the time of this report, Reddit’s NFT avatar holders have exceeded 3.2 million.
Reddit Premium offers monthly and annual subscriptions that allow users access to exclusive avatars—priced at $5.99 per month or $49.99 per year. As shown below, some of Reddit’s avatars are co-created products, already backed by major partnerships. These collaborations help broaden the reach of Reddit’s Web3 adoption.
Notably, purchasing NFTs on Reddit differs significantly from traditional NFT purchases—there’s no complex wallet registration, network switching, or Gas fee preparation. It works just like buying in-game items in typical Web2 games, with setup completed within three minutes. NFTs are minted on Polygon, so users don’t pay Gas fees, and the term “NFT” isn’t even mentioned. Regarding seed phrases: buyers are prompted to create a “Reddit Vault,” which generates a visible 12-word recovery phrase that users must write down and can later recover using a password.
The Reddit NFT series on OpenSea are artist-designed, with each collection offering unique features. Now, Reddit has more NFT holders than OpenSea!
Reddit’s journey into Web3 shares similarities with Nike’s but also includes its own innovations. First, at least four collectible series were airdropped to top users of specific subreddits. Second, NFT avatars were given real utility—not only as profile pictures but also granting additional rights and features. Third, bringing in other leading brands was another innovation; by partnering with Web2 brands and games, Reddit NFTs can reach more niche user segments.
Additional Case Examples
Given the diversity of Web3 adoption cases, we present here only examples under Animoca Brands. The full version is available in the original report.
Sports: Lympo is building a sports NFT ecosystem, including NFTs based on intellectual property from world-famous athletes and clubs.
Chess: Animoca Brands and Lympo announced a partnership with Play Magnus Group to develop AniChess—a new blockchain-based chess game. It currently has over 60,000 monthly active users.
REVV Racing is an arcade-style blockchain racing game developed by Animoca Brands. It is the latest title in the REVV Motorsport racing game metaverse where players earn their championship titles. Over 58,000 players have already obtained it.
Fitness: With support from Animoca, Olivex is collaborating with premium gaming and fitness brands to create and incubate gamified fitness experiences on the blockchain. Already attracting 1 million players from Zombies, Run!.
Motorcycles: Thanks to MotoGP and our REVV Motorsport team, Animoca Brands exclusively sponsored the successful Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.
Rugby: HSBC partnered with The Sandbox to bring Rugby Sevens into the metaverse.
Soccer: Forj has partnered with NFTStar to bring Neymar, Son, and Figo’s BAYC into the metaverse.
Education: TinyTapAB’s first batch of publisher NFTs sold out, totaling 138.926 ETH (approximately $228,000).
Validated Market Strategies
From successful cases, we observe that different brands and projects need to clearly define their positioning and tailor market strategies to their existing user base when entering Web3. Overall, these strategies fall into two categories—top-down and bottom-up—as illustrated below:
Trends in Web3 Adoption
1. Web2.5 is driving mass-scale adoption of Web3;
2. Cryptocurrency payments are becoming mainstream;
3. Web3 mobile apps follow the mass adoption curve—with over fivefold growth in downloadable Web3 mobile apps since January 2019;
4. Organizations are building dedicated Web3 teams—as seen in the earlier case studies, more and more organizations are entering Web3 and achieving strong revenue;
5. Ecosystem network effects are forming—CooCats, for instance, leverages Animoca Brands’ rich ecosystem resources to gradually expand into Web2.
Opportunities and Challenges
Challenges
- Low Web3 literacy among audiences;
- Saturation in P2E models—users aren’t playing for fun;
- Lack of content on Web3 and the Metaverse;
- Advantages brought by the bear market environment;
- Team layoffs for survival.
Opportunities
- Developing both top-down and bottom-up Web3 strategies;
- Learning from the best-performing projects;
- Focusing on internal user education in Web3;
- Securing strong technical partners;
- Co-developing with communities to move beyond zero-sum games.
Conclusion
Mass adoption of Web3 is an unstoppable trend. Early-mover brands like Nike and Reddit have achieved significant success through well-executed strategies, setting a precedent that will make Web3 adoption an increasingly deliberate choice for others.
Appendix I: Original Report
Appendix II: Video Version of the Report (Binance Live replay, December 1)
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