10/03/2023 Starbucks sold 2,000 NFTs in 20 minutes — coffee not included

Starbucks Odyssey logo over a glitchy, multi-colored background

Image: Starbucksnone

It’s been more than a year since NFT sales peaked — and then collapsed — but that’s not stopping enterprising multi-billion dollar corporations from trying to get in on the action.

Starbucks launched its first paid collection of NFTs today, a group of2,000 digital “stamps,”each priced at $100. Starbucks calls its NFTs “Journey Stamps,” a less technical-sounding term that the uninitiated might use as a way to explain what they just spent money on. And people did buy them —CoinDesk reports that the “stamps” sold out in under 20 minutes.

The coffee company first launched its NFT and Web3 push in December,when it opened up a new membership programcalled Starbucks Odyssey. An extension of the existing Starbucks rewards program that gives customers perks like free drink upgrades, Odyssey promises to deliver new benefits and “immersive coffee experiences that [customers] cannot get anywhere else” as members complete games, quizzes, and make purchases. Rewards might include virtual classes, access to merchandise, or a trip to a Starbucks coffee farm at higher membership tiers. Free coffee, notably, isn’t listed as a possible reward. Purchasing an NFT gives members additional “points” that they can use to level up their tier.

Dozens of big brands have wrung the NFT towel dry over the past couple years. A non-exhaustive list:Taco Bell,Nike,Adidas,Paramount,GameStop, a bunch of celebrities viaa revamped LimeWire,the NBA,CNN, and the list goes on. What’s particularly odd about the Starbucks NFTs is that they’re coming so late, though the most devout Starbucks and crypto fans did scoop them up. According to Nifty Gateway 1,164 people own an NFT from the new collection.

As a casual Starbucks drinker, seeing a new membership program made me think of one thing: how my Starbucks “stars” areworth less nowunder the updated rewards program that the company announced earlier this year. You could call it shrink-flation for theoriginalvirtual coffee tokens. And when times are tough for rewards programs, I suppose selling off a slew of new digital tokens makes sense — especially when there are people who’ll buy them.

Arts

https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/9/23633169/starbucks-nfts-odyssey-siren-collection-rewards-program

Interesting NFTs
Experimental No.1 #3074
Changes is the only thing that hasn’t been changed. From time to space to the thoughts of human beings are constantly changing. I transformed a Silver Gelatin Photogram (a piece of physical photograph made of alternative photographic processes) into a digital image that even can produce endless changes. This is based on the change in my way of seeing the world. It is difficult for individuals to completely isolate themselves from their own inherent culture, this ingrained imprint not only stems from families but also social and historical influences. Besides, the rapid innovation of science and technologies directly drives the world today to inevitably facing collisions and fusions in multiculturalism. Studying classical philosophical text allows me to apply the dialectical method to tease those open questions, and finally ground on my artworks. All things complement each other and balance in the collision. Changes is the key. Isn’t the development of human civilization that come to the present evolve in indistinct ways?
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There are an almost infinite number of ways to wrap a string around a set of pegs. On the surface it may seem like a simple concept but prepare to be surprised and delighted at the variety of combinations the algorithm can produce. Each output from 'Ringers' is derived from a unique transaction hash and generated in Javascript in the browser. Feature variations include peg count, sizing, layout, wrap orientation, and a few colorful flourishes for good measure. Additional project feature(s) => Background: Red, Size: Normal, Wrap orientation: Balanced, Wrap style: Loop, Peg layout: Recursive grid, Peg scaling: Uniform, Body: White, Peg style: Solid, Extra color: N/A, Peg count: 23
#81451
By OthersideDeployer
Cosmic Chess
Cosmic Chess is a playable artwork that will evolve in time as the game progresses. This piece utilizes a special Layer Changer tool that lets owners move their pieces just like they would a regular chess game! To see the current state of the board you can view the tool here: https://asyncchess.herokuapp.com/1148
Crossroad
LIMITED EDITION 1/1 | includes signed limited edition prints of all 3 states (pre-election, Trump win, Biden win) This piece is a first for Nifty, a token that will change based on the outcome of the election. If anything is constant about the times we now live in, it's uncertainty. This uncertainty is perfectly encapsulated in this piece of artwork as the person buying the piece will not know the final artwork. The artwork will be one state at auction before the election, and after the results of the election are known, will forever change to reflect a Trump or Biden win. PLEASE FUCKING NOTE: If trump wins, this token will change to that video of sexy boi king trump stomping through hell FOREVER. I don’t want you coming back to me bitching that you spent $2M* on this and now it’s a video of orangeman going HAM and it’s keeping u up at night popping mad boners. should have voted bruh. *and stfu that this isn’t gonna be worth a fuckton more when I hit 30 years of everydays and have a permanent collection in the MOMA. smh.