Starbucks Brews New NFT Experience for Customers Pushing the Frontiers of The Asset Class

• Starbucks joins Web3 with its pioneer Odyssey project to reward loyal customers.
• The company hopes to leverage blockchain technology to provide value to its system.
• The Ethereum blockchain gets yet another big name creation as Odyssey is set to launch on its platform

Starbucks thrills customers with a significant foray into digital assets through the help of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).

Starbucks has announced that it will reward its loyal customers over the years by rolling out an NFT collection through its latest offering, Odyssey. The company had hinted at its plan to launch the series in May, saying that it hopes to create “unique experiences, community building and customer engagement.”

Starbucks CMO, Brady Brewer, stated that the program will be on the blockchain and will be simplified, adding that blockchain will just be the enabler. 

“It happens to be built on blockchain and web3 technologies, but the customer — to be honest — may very well not even know that what they’re doing is interacting with blockchain technology. It’s just the enabler,”

The program will enable its customers to earn digital assets, which can be used to purchase more coffee or be traded on the marketplace. The program for customers is in two forms. The company has announced that it will release a limited edition NFT package on Polygon. 

Although it is blockchain-based, users can buy through fiat currency as the company wants to reduce the entry barrier and technicalities. The NFTs can be traded on the marketplace or used to unlock new features on Odyssey. 

Odyssey, which will launch on Polygon on the Ethereum blockchain, is a story-based blockchain game in which users must complete journeys to get rewards. These journeys tell a story of the Starbucks brand over the years and let users test their knowledge. As they complete each phase, they collect “journey stamps”, which can be traded or used to claim store rewards. Starbucks has expressed its desire to reserve some exclusive benefits for “journey stamps” holders.

NFT struggle: Ethereum v Solana

Odyssey will be built on Polygon’s network, which operates on the Ethereum blockchain scoring another point for the leading blockchain in decentralized finance. Solana has been touted as the ETH killer over the years but has not done much in displacing the Ethereum blockchain. 

However, Solana has broken its record with NFT sales topping $2 billion, with several NFT collectables like yOOTs being minted on the network. Odyssey will score a point for Ethereum as it tries to stave off competition from rival blockchains.