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by nakedlunch 2350 days ago
As other commenters have pointed out, this only prevents counterfeit shoes being sold as real.

If that’s the intention, it would be much simpler to just make a database and print a code on each shoe (probably already done to some extent). Therefore when a user wants to know if a shoe is real or counterfeit, they could use the code on a website to find out if it was the genuine article.

That seems like it would have far more uptake and use than a cryptographic model requiring wallets.
1 comments
vineetmarkan 2350 days ago
If you read the use cases, a lot of their ideas revolve around marketplace. So it should have more to do with resale or transfer of digital asset. So when you are selling on a marketplace like EBay etc., having a valid digital token is a proof that you are trying to sell valid Nikes.

IMO they are tracking ownership of each pair with the help of these tokens and once the real shoe is sold the token is transferred to someone else's digital wallet.

Putting a QR code on shoe is not really effective as it can copied/pasted on a different shoe etc.

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compsciphd 2350 days ago
They are tracking ownership, but why does this need to be decentralized?

what advantage does Nike gain for it being decentralized vs everything getting a QR code and you can verify with Nike that the person you are buying it from is the registered owner of said QR code.

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vineetmarkan 2350 days ago
Because blockchains are great for exchange of value/transactions. Tokens can be easily transferred and hard to re-create and safe. They can be re-generated after each transaction and stored in a wallet.

Associating one QR code with one shoe is simply not the same thing. Nike doesn't have to make the whole ledger public through give the nature of blockchain, it can be assured that it has not been altered.

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AstralStorm 2350 days ago
They don't have to with QR codes either, unless you're willing to enumerate all possible codes in their verifier.

Also the thing is not stopping anyone from providing a wrong code. Unless every transaction concerning their shoes is recorded on the block chain, which it won't, and which brings privacy issues.

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ASalazarMX 2350 days ago
If the QR code/serial number can be duplicated, so can the digital token. The digital token is tracked by Nike to be uniquely owned you say? Why can't they do the same with the QR code/serial number?

It's just shoes, no one will own or need to transfer 0.124 of those shoes.

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