Coffee, NFTs & Crypto

Starbucks, the coffee giant with 32,000 stores in 80 countries, is getting into crypto. It’s announcement bills it as “We’re creating the digital Third Place.” Where is that? According to Starbucks it’s the place ‘between home and work’ and that “the essence of the Third Place has always been the feeling of connection and belonging it provides.”

Now it aspires to create a new, global digital community defined by collaboration, experiences, and shared ownership, centred around coffee to start with, but perhaps expanding into other areas, such as art, music and books.

Starbucks’ NFT Collection

To do this it is launching NFT collections, saying that while it is aware that many people just see NFTs as a new form of ownership of digital art, “we are fascinated by how NFTs allow people to own a programmable, brandable digital asset, that also doubles as an access pass.”

Starbucks plans to create a series of branded NFT collections, the ownership of which initiates community membership, and allows for access to exclusive experiences and perks. The themes of these collections will be born of Starbucks artistic expressions, both heritage and newly created, as well as through world-class collaborations with other innovators and like-minded brands.

It has assets to draw on, as it points out. Starbucks has amassed a treasure trove of assets that it can bring to the ecosystem — such as its rich heritage of coffee art and storytelling, its nearly 27 million active Rewards members in the U.S., as well as a long line of store designs and Starbucks card art, “and other fun ways to bring digital communities and experiences to life in the digital realm.”

When is this NFT collection coming? The company says, “We plan to start with our first NFT collection, membership and community later this year, based on coffee art and storytelling. It will come with a host of unique experiences and benefits, worthy of a genesis NFT collection from Starbucks.”