The CloneX NFT Image Disappears from OpenSea and Blur
The CloneX NFT image, one of the famous projects from Nike’s RTFKT, suddenly disappeared from the OpenSea and Blur platforms. All that was visible was a message that read, “This content has been restricted; using Cloudflare’s basic services in this manner violates the terms of service.”
For collectors who have made expensive purchases, this situation is clearly panic-inducing. Imagine if you bought an expensive painting, but suddenly the gallery where it was stored closed without any news. That’s more or less how it felt.
This problem arose after RTFKT decided to stop their Web3 service since January 2025. But apparently, the matter was not over there. Cloudflare, the network service provider that is usually used to serve NFT images, is considered no longer suitable for projects like CloneX, at least according to their service policy.
Many suspect that this problem is about bills that were forgotten to be paid. However, Samuel Cardillo, former CTO of RTFKT, firmly denied it. He said, this is not a matter of invoices, but more towards the increasingly strict rules for using Cloudflare’s free services.
RTFKT Moves CloneX to Arweave, OpenSea Busy with Updates
As a rescue effort, all CloneX visual content is being moved to Arweave, a permanent and decentralized storage platform. The goal is to prevent similar problems from recurring and files can still be accessed even though the service is later abandoned by RTFKT. But of course, this migration takes time and is not instant. While waiting, many collectors can only bite their fingers.
On the other hand, OpenSea itself is diligently making updates. On April 15, 2025, they launched OS 2.0 with a modular system and faster performance. Along with this launch, they also introduced the SEA token for community governance.
Token distribution has begun through several airdrop phases. Then, on April 21, they also started testing the Solana (SPL) token trading feature in beta. But this feature is still limited to selected users only.
Furthermore, OpenSea has also just sent a letter to the SEC to ask for clarity on regulations regarding NFT. They do not want to be classified as a securities broker. Their CEO, Devin Finzer, even said that NFTs could be a tool for tokenizing real assets like stocks and artwork. He also said that the SEC investigation into OpenSea had been dropped, which was considered good news.
Traditional vs. Decentralized NFTs, Which is Safer?
The CloneX case is a painful reminder of the risks of storing digital files. Blockchain does record who owns what, but if the image files are stored on a regular server like Cloudflare, they can still disappear. This is why solutions like Arweave are starting to be widely chosen.
Meanwhile, CNF previously also reported that the Ronin network is now live on OpenSea, making it easier for developers and users to create and trade Ronin-based NFTs. This makes the ecosystem more open and less dependent on one party.