CloneX NFT Sale Launch Date: What Happened and Where It Stands

CloneX does not have a public launch date that applies today. Its sale opened in late November 2021 and ran into December 2021. Coverage from the time cites November 29, 2021 as the start, when the project's 20,000 avatars were described as split between a pre-sale and a public sale, with a Dutch auction starting at 3 ETH and the price falling over time.

If you are searching for a date to plan around, the useful answer is that the primary sale is over. All 20,000 avatars were sold, and reporting from the period says the collection sold out in mid-December 2021. Any mint date you see for CloneX today should be checked carefully, because the original event is not an open sale.

The short version:

• Sale start: late November 2021, with November 29 the date most coverage cites
• Format: Dutch auction, with a pre-sale and a public sale
• Supply: 20,000 avatars
• Outcome: sold out in December 2021

The rest of this guide covers how the sale worked, why it was paused, what happened after it sold out, and how to check the current market safely.

A Dutch auction starts at a high price and drops over a set schedule. The first buyer to accept the current price gets the item. This format is different from a fixed-price mint, where the price stays the same and supply runs out at that price.

For CloneX, reporting described a starting price of 3 ETH with the price falling over time. The sale was also split into a pre-sale and a public sale. Who could take part in each stage was set by the project at the time, and those rules are best confirmed from archived announcements rather than from memory or secondhand summaries.

If you were studying how the sale worked, these points matter most:

• The price moves on a schedule, so timing affects what you pay
• Gas fees on the network are paid on top of the mint price
• A pre-sale and a public sale can have different rules and access
• A stalled or paused auction can leave buyers unsure what happened to their transaction

The format rewarded buyers who understood the schedule and had their wallet ready. It also meant that a delay or a technical problem could affect many people at once, which is part of why the pause described below drew attention.

Reporting from the sale period described the Dutch auction as paused partway through after alleged attacks on the project's website. The pause meant that the public had to rely on official channels for updates while the sale was in an uncertain state.

Pauses like this matter for collectors for two reasons. First, the period right after a stall is when fake sites and impersonators tend to appear, offering a faster route to mint or a replacement sale. Second, a paused sale creates confusion about what was bought, what was refunded, and which transactions completed.

If a mint site is paused, delayed or showing errors, the safer steps are:

• Stop and do not connect your wallet to an unfamiliar site
• Check the project's official announcements through channels you find yourself, not through links in messages
• Compare the contract address shown on the site with the address listed in official material
• Wait for confirmed information before sending funds

The details of the attacks, and how they were resolved, are best confirmed from the project's own statements and from contemporary reporting, since the public record may differ between sources.

Reports from the period say the 20,000 CloneX avatars sold out in December 2021. The exact timing within that window depends on the source, so if you need a precise end time, check the collection's on-chain mint history and the project's archived announcements.

The sale ran alongside a wider story. In December 2021, Nike announced it would acquire RTFKT, the studio behind CloneX. Coverage of that news reported that CloneX prices on the secondary market rose sharply in the days that followed. That is a common pattern for high-profile collections: attention from a major brand can move prices quickly, and it can also reverse just as fast.

What sold out means for you today:

• There is no primary supply to buy from the project in the original sense
• Anyone holding a CloneX token now bought it from a previous owner or from the original mint
• The price you see is set by the secondary market, not by a sale price
• Past spikes, including ones tied to news, do not tell you what prices will do next

Collectors who bought at the sale and collectors who buy later face the same market risk, but they came in at very different prices.

CloneX was created by RTFKT Studios, a digital fashion and collectibles studio, with artwork by the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. The avatars were presented as next-generation digital characters, and the collection was tied to RTFKT's wider work on digital collectibles and wearables.

The main facts most readers need are these:

• RTFKT Studios created the collection
• Takashi Murakami is the artist credited for the designs
• The collection contains 20,000 avatars
• Nike announced its acquisition of RTFKT in December 2021

The Nike acquisition was widely covered as a sign of big-brand interest in NFTs and digital fashion. For anyone researching the collection, it is useful to separate the project's creative history from the market price. The creative and brand history explains why the collection drew attention. The price tells you what the current market will pay, and that changes often.

If you are looking for more detail on the project's roadmap, utilities or later products, use the project's own published material and dated announcements, and check whether each claim is still current.

CloneX tokens are traded on the secondary market, mostly on Ethereum marketplaces. Several general NFT venues list the collection, and each has its own interface, fee structure and royalty handling. Platforms such as Rarible, OpenSea, Element Market and OKX NFT Marketplace have shown CloneX listings in the past, so check which venues currently list the collection before you rely on any of them.

Some traders also use pool-based tools. Sudoswap V2, for example, is a decentralized marketplace on several networks that supports automated pricing. Whether a tool supports a specific CloneX token depends on the token standard and the pools available at the time, so confirm that before you plan a trade.

Before you trade a CloneX token, check the following:

• The contract address matches the one in official project material
• The listed price includes or excludes fees and royalties, as the venue states
• Gas costs on the network you are using
• Whether the seller is listing a token you can actually transfer

NFT markets can be illiquid. A listed price is not always a price someone will pay, so look at recent completed sales as well as current listings.

Figures for CloneX floor prices, volume and sales change constantly, so this guide does not give current numbers. Instead, use the following steps to check the market yourself on the day you look.

1. Open a market tracker that covers CloneX and note the floor price, total volume and recent sales. Treat tracker data as a starting point, since different tools can calculate figures differently.
2. Open the collection page on one or two marketplaces and compare the lowest listed prices.
3. Review the activity or history tab to see completed sales, not just listings. A low listing with no recent sales is a weaker signal.
4. Check the token's own history, including past owners and any notable transfers, if you are looking at a specific avatar.
5. Look at the date of each data point. A figure from last week may not describe today.

Also note that a high or low floor on one venue does not always match another venue. Compare before you act, and remember that a displayed price is not a guarantee of what you would receive if you sold.

A sold-out, high-profile collection attracts scammers. Common tactics include fake mint sites that copy the look of official pages, direct messages offering early access or a whitelist spot, impersonators posing as the project or as RTFKT or Nike staff, and fake giveaways that ask for a wallet connection.

The most damaging scams usually involve a signature or approval request rather than a simple payment. Signing a request can give a malicious contract permission to move your tokens or funds, even if you never clicked a buy button.

Defensive steps to take:

• Type or bookmark official addresses yourself. Do not follow links from unsolicited messages.
• Never share your seed phrase or recovery phrase with anyone, including people claiming to be support staff.
• Read every wallet prompt before you sign. Decline requests you do not understand.
• Review and revoke token approvals you no longer need, using a reputable wallet or approval checker.
• Be wary of anyone who promises a guaranteed return or a sale price below market value.

If you think you have been phished, move remaining assets to a new wallet you control, revoke approvals, and report the incident to the platform where it happened.

CloneX's sale is a closed chapter, but the collection remains part of NFT history and continues to trade. The most useful things a reader can do now are simple.

Checklist:

• Treat any claimed CloneX mint as unverified until you confirm it through official channels
• Use the sale timeline as historical context, not as a schedule to act on
• Check the current market through trackers and marketplaces, and compare recent sales
• Confirm the contract address before you connect a wallet or sign anything
• Keep your recovery phrase offline and never share it

NFT prices can move sharply and can fall to much lower levels. This guide is general information rather than financial advice. If a purchase matters to your finances, read the project's current material, understand the risks of the venue you use, and consider getting independent advice before you commit funds.