Birth of the THOR Force 1
The idea for Vanir Threads began in July 2021. I had a dream about a sneaker. Being an avid sneakerhead, this was nothing out of the ordinary. But this shoe was different. It hadn’t been made yet. It was stunningly simple — the THORChain split lightning bolt emblazoned on the side of the iconic Nike silhouette the Air Force 1. I had to get to work immediately to make it a reality.
I created the shoe and I was surprised to see that it looked just as good as a concept as it did in person. This first sneaker was made with none of the bells and whistles of the current model. It doesn’t glow in the dark, swoosh alignment isn’t great, and I didn’t have gold aglets on the laces yet, but the design on the side panels still looked incredible. I thought this could catch on and speak to others in the same way it did to me, but I looked at my reach within the community. I had the ability to make this into a reality, but I didn’t have the means to bring it to the masses. Even more so, I thought that the community wouldn’t see this project positively because I had no name or established reputation in the space. I took a handful of pictures of myself wearing the shoes (being careful not to crease or damage them) and threw them up on my shelf for a month — unseen by anyone.
Baloney Bones, the Dean and Founder of LP University, made a tweet voicing exactly what I had been thinking. Why had no one made real world, high quality crypto collectibles yet? The rise and popularization of NFTs gave rise to this seemingly obvious value proposition. As a huge sneakerhead and streetwear fanatic, I love buying well crafted items that speak to my values, sense of style, and interests. I’ll buy any Kith collab that speaks to me (or even if I just love the aesthetics). So why is no one doing this in the crypto ecosystem yet?
Moments afterwards, discord messages flew between Baloney Bones and I (who I had never had any previous interaction with). He brought in his brother, Wesley, where we formulated the basis on what Vanir Threads would seek to accomplish — producing the highest quality crypto collectibles that are backed by NFTs.
It was this initial interaction that made me realize the true value of the web3 economy. I didn’t need permission from anyone to create this project. All I had to do was produce my product and then convince others of its value to the overall ecosystem. My only weapon was simplicity, aesthetics, and the essentially creative commons brand of THORChain. And it worked.
The response was overwhelming. I hadn’t spoken to a dozen THORChain community members since learning about the project in February. The values and ethos behind the creation of THORChain have always resonated strongly with me, however. I knew that I loved these sneakers, but seeing that it spoke to others in the same way brought me joy beyond belief. Especially when seeing the response from others who I looked up to in the community as being the strongest bastions for the decentralized values of THORChain and Bitcoin.
Both Chad and Erik are crypto OGs and steadfast in their beliefs in decentralization, immutability, privacy, and the ability to trade freely. Both are very public in their humanitarian belief in crypto and especially how the creation of THORChain takes this premise to the next level. Ever since I joined the community, I heard Erik and Chad speak about decentralization and the technical accomplishments and promises of THORChain. A decentralized liquidity protocol that includes native, unwrapped Bitcoin is necessary for the long term survival of the crypto ecosystem. To be able to gift pairs of my own creation to these pioneers was the first major accomplishment of Vanir Threads and just the start of a long journey ahead.
