Now this sort of NFT makes sense. Sort of.

I'm not a big fan of NFTs, and don't understand why anyone would want to pay for a digital image of anything. 

A physical work of art you can hang on your wall and enjoy? Yes! A digital rendition of a work of art you can look at it on your smartphone? The same way you could look at a picture you took of your actual physical work of art you took with your smartphone? Plus you'd have the physical work of art on your wall?

I'll take the physical work of art any old day.

I'm not alone. As far as I can tell, a lot of people took a pass. And a lot of other people lost their shirts betting that investing in NFT's would pay off big time.

Oh, sure, there are still some folks spending "good" crypto on Bored Ape NFT's. (Have a google for yourself on this one.) But the general feeling seems to be that NFT's are dead. Or at least dying.

But there are innovators out there who just don't want to let the concept of NFT's go. They're betting that tying the physical object of your desire to digital goodies - or digital access to physical or experiential goodies - is going to be thing. 

Endstate is a Boston startup. (And why am I not surprised that they're endstate.io, not endstate.com.)

Endstate is a sneaker company. Sort of. But:   

What Endstate really sells is NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, which it releases periodically in limited amounts. Customers buy an NFT, specify their shoe size, and within weeks receive a real pair of sneakers.

The shoes come with a wide variety of perks and access to in-real-life experiences. (Source: Boston Globe)

Each Endstate "sneaker drop" comes with a physical thang - the sneakers - and digital and experiential elements as well. 

Some of the sneakers Endstate drops are purely commercial.

There's a pair for fans of Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith. You get your kicks - if that's what the cool kids still call sneaks - and a chip in the tongue of the shoe gets you an invite to an event Smith is hosting, plus a game watch party where you can watch Smith go wide - and root for him to gain enough yardage to win you a coupon for a free cheesesteak.

But other Endstate sneakers are for a higher purpose. There's a blue and yellow pair that provides aid to Ukraine. (These you pay for in crypto - $1,340 worth of ETH [Ethereum].) Then there's the Red Bandana Sneaker, which helps support the Welles Crowther Charitable Trust. 

Welles Crowther was a recent Boston College grad working as a trader in the Twin Towers. On September 11, 2001, Crowther - wearing his trademark red bandana - managed to save at least 20 people by helping them down the staircases, and - in some cases - carrying folks down on his back. The Charitable Trust his family established in his name supports community engagement for young people.

The Red Bandana sneakers benefit the foundation. They're tied to the Boston College vs. Clemson football game. So, in addition to the sneakers, you get access to a special tailgate. 

The sneakers, then, are the physical element, and the tailgate is part of the experiential element. That leaves the digital, which "contains" an NFT of the sneakers, some sort of Discord access that I don't understand in the least, and "future metaverse integrations." And if I don't understand in the least what "entry into The State Department channel within the Endstate Discord" means, I really don't understand what "future metaverse integrations" is all about. 

Still, I get that the sneakers come with some non-sneaker goodies. Which is how NFT's will survive. 

Anyway, Endstate has gotten some interest from investors, and seems like it's onto a good thing. If there are enough folks out there willing to spend $250 on sneakers+ (or, in the case of the Ukraine Aid drop, .25 ETH.)

Nic Carter, a partner at Castle Island Ventures, wrote in a recent blog post that several “tech-savvy luxury brands” likely thought about selling NFTs last year that didn’t come with a physical good or utility component.

“Now that the hype has cooled,” he wrote, “these brands will start to realize that the real innovation is not exploiting fans by selling them overpriced JPEGs with dubious utility, but by twinning merchandise with a persistent digital property.”

Persistent digital property? Is that a new thing? A PDP? 

If so, what happens when the sneakers wear out? Cut the tongue with the embedded chip in it out of the sneaker and hang onto that forever, a remembrance of cheesesteaks and tailgates past...