14/07/2021 American Express makes debut into NFT rewards with SZA

Just swipe your American Express credit card to buy… a non-fungible token of R&B singer SZA?

American Express is making its debut into NFTs, the digital media phenomenon that has excited collectors enough to spend as much as $70 million for rights to digital artwork anyone can search for online.

American Express wants in on the craze, and it has started with NFTs for images of “Good Days” singer SZA, who was recently featured in a virtual concert hosted by the credit card company. 

Amex is selling 14 NFTs featuring the singer’s performance. It released 10 of the tokens, sold by NFT developer Fanaply, to concert attendees for a price tag of $100 a pop. The other four were put on sale the evening of July 12 to anyone with an Amex card for the same price.

American Express

The response was immediate. “The first drop sold out,” a company spokeswoman said in an email.

American Express had been watching the NFT space emerge over the last year as a way for fans to connect with artists and creators, according to the spokeswoman, who said that card members had also expressed interest in the space. The company doesn’t have any other confirmed plans right now for other NFTs, although it intends to release more in the future.

NFTs are one way that credit card companies are tapping into blockchain innovation—innovation that some say is a threat to their own business models. NFTs are essentially a blockchain-based certificate of authenticity for a digital asset—not the asset itself. Individuals can buy the rights to it, which will forever be stored on the blockchain, making it attractive to collectors.

Credit card companies including Amex, MasterCard and Visa have all been discussing ways to harness blockchain technology for years now. MasterCard recently said its customers could get crypto rewards on purchases, and it plans to start supporting certain coins on its network. Visa is leaning into crypto “in a very, very big way,” its CEO, Al Kelly, said on the company’s latest earnings call April 27. Currently, its customers can pay via digital currency, and it works with 35 platforms or wallets to enable its cardholders to convert digital currency to fiat, so they can use it to spend at merchants. 

Credit card companies may feel an urgency to innovate in the space—to be part of the next iteration of innovation rather than have it emerge at their own expense. Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has said that blockchain and the tech built on top of it, like smart contracts, could steal business from, or even replace, major credit card companies in only a matter of years.

“I do think that [credit card companies are] being quite progressive in playing in these spaces that they didn't a few years back because of that sense of risk,” says Carey O’Connor Kolaja, CEO of automated identity verification and fraud prevention company AU10TIX, which works with credit card companies and other financial institutions. “The pandemic was clearly an accelerant for a lot of industries that may have been playing around the edges,” she says, adding that the future of credit scores and lending isn’t clear.

Major credit card companies are evidently bullish on blockchain innovation—and so are consumers. Particularly for NFTs, there was nearly $2.5 billion spent on the tokens in the first six months of 2021, according to a DappRadar data.

NFTs have piqued Kolaja’s interest, too—particularly what she calls the “next generation” of athlete card trading that is happening online. Whether the valuations for these certificates can stay as high as they’ve been, “the jury’s out to me,” she says.

Arts

https://fortune.com/2021/07/12/nft-crypto-american-express-sza/

Interesting NFTs
Pixel Story
This happy-go-lucky tribe made of lovable pixel Kitties have so much to talk about. While their language skills are simplistic, each Kitty still manages to express themselves with a variety of colorful emoticons and poses. From communicating their basic emotions, to discussing the economic implications of rising Ethereum gas prices, Pixel Tribe Kitties will keep each other entertained for hours. As their communications evolve and become more sophisticated, the inhabitants will come to realize that certain combinations of emotes will unlock secrets within their world. Try it out for yourself, if you're lucky enough to adopt a Kitty. Use the coordinate guide at: https://share.getcloudapp.com/7KumW6Lk to position your kitty Layer.
Banksta
Pump, dump and bump Banksta to death. Demon or dead normal? Print fiat at will. What more do you want?
⚡Almighty Icy Wonky⚡
Ugh! I'm ⚡Almighty Icy Wonky⚡. I'm a Dispensary Clerk by day, and I like mocking dogs by night. I once cleaned a platypus. I don't like to talk about it. Our friendship will be despicable, voluptuous, and full of cantaloupe.
Mars House
Mars House is the first NFT digital house in the world. Upon purchase of Mars House NFT, 3D files will be sent to the new owner by Krista Kim Studio Inc. for file upload to the owner’s Metaverse. Technical support for Mars House integration on Metaverse is provided. (Architectural Digest, March 14, 2021) “Kim ventured into NFTs while exploring meditative design during quarantine; her hope was to use the influx of digital life as an opportunity to promote wellbeing. Comprised entirely of light, the visual effects of her crypto-home are meant to omit a zen, healing atmosphere. The artist also partnered with musician Jeff Schroeder of The Smashing Pumpkins to create a calming musical accompaniment. So what makes the file a compelling purchase? Beyond the promise of buying into the lucrative NFT market, the home and all of the furniture in it can be built in real life by glass furniture-makers in Italy, as well as through MicroLED screen technology. Kim also has a strong visions the art being projected, as well. “Everyone should install an LED wall in their house for NFT art.” says the artist. “ This is the future, and Mars House demonstrates the beauty of that possibility.” The owner is in agreement to the following terms and conditions upon purchase of Mars House (hereby referred to as Mars House NFT): The collector agrees to own one copy of Mars House NFT on a single Metaverse platform. The collector is required to register Mars House NFT ownership with Krista Kim Studio Inc. Krista Kim Studio Inc. will provide technical support to upload and integrate Mars House NFT on a Metaverse platform. If/when Mars House is resold, the collector is required to delete all Mars House NFT 3D file(s) from his/her Metaverse, and provide verification of deletion to Krista Kim Studio Inc. before new 3D files are transferred to the new owner by the artist. The new owner is required to register Mars House NFT ownership with Krista Kim Studio Inc. Krista Kim Studio will send Mars House NFT 3D files directly to the new owner and provide support for Metaverse integration. This verified ownership transfer system will be appointed to Krista Kim Studio Inc. trusteeship, after 40 years of the date of the sale. Krista Kim Studio Inc. retains ownership of Mars House NFT copyright. All rights reserved. All reproductions of Mars House (NFT) in both digital and physical formats, are restricted. Mars House NFT physical furniture pieces, made of tempered printed glass in Italy, may be commissioned by the collector as NFT physical pieces.
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By OthersideDeployer