The vast majority of the NFT market has crashed, yet the coffee giant launched a new virtual drink for $20 each.
Starbucks
It's pumpkin spice latte season, and to commemorate the 20th anniversary of selling the popular beverage, Starbucks on Thursday launched non-fungible token versions of the drink.
The NFT collection spans four varieties representing the real-life types of drink orders: Spiced, Whipped, Iced, and Steamed.
They will be sold via an open edition for $20 each, per Decrypt, meaning there is no limit to how many collectibles can be sold and minted between October 5 and October 9.
Members of Starbucks Odyssey, the company's Web3 platform, who buy all four NFT stamps will earn a surprise "opportunity," and the official art work for the stamps will be unveiled on October 10.
Last December, Starbucks gifted free NFT stamps to members, and some of those resold for $1,900 each on secondary markets. Then in March, it launched another collection at $100 per token, and those sold out.
Starbucks, however, may be an outlier player in the digital asset space as the broader NFT market was recently found to be mostly worthless.
A September analysis from dappGambl based on data from NFT Scan and CoinMarketCap showed that, out of 73,257 NFT collections studied, 95% of them had a market cap of zero as measured in ether. According to the researchers' estimates, roughly 23 million people hold those worthless assets.
"This daunting reality should serve as a sobering check on the euphoria that has often surrounded the NFT space," the report said. "Amid stories of digital art pieces selling for millions and overnight success stories, it is easy to overlook the fact that the market is fraught with pitfalls and potential losses."
A representative for Starbucks didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
