The well-known chain of coffee shops Starbucks is dipping its toes into the web 3.
The business is developing Starbucks Odyssey, a blockchain-based loyalty program that lets users buy non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that represent digital collectible stamps, in collaboration with Polygon.
The new program will be accessible to participants in the current Starbucks Rewards loyalty program as well as to all Starbucks employees working in the United States, as Starbucks announced on Monday.
Members of the program get access to a wide range of novel experiences, such as products, artist collaborations, and special events. Additionally, it will provide interactive activities that test players’ familiarity with Starbucks and coffee while awarding them with NFTs.
NFTs are distinctive blockchain tokens that may be used to represent physical items or stand alone as collectibles. NFTs are progressively giving holders concrete and intangible features and rewards, as opposed to simply acting as hypothetical images on the internet as they once did.
“As one of the first companies to integrate NFTs with an industry-leading loyalty program at scale, Starbucks will create an accessible Web3 community that will enable new ways to engage with members and partners (employees)”
Each of Starbucks’ NFT stamps will have a point value that corresponds to how rare it is, and members will be able to buy and sell them in a dedicated marketplace. Each includes artwork made by Starbucks partners as well as independent artists.
No cryptocurrency will be required to buy the NFTs, according to the business; merely a credit card would do. Starbucks Rewards members’ specific causes will get a portion of the money raised by the NFT sale.
What this means for Polygon
Polygon cements itself as one of the leading blockchain technology companies in the world. The Starbucks partnership is another one to the long list of high-profile partnerships that Polygon has closed throughout the years. The list includes Meta (Facebook), Draft Kings, OpenSea, and EA Sports, among many others.
An Eco-Friendly Partnership
Polygon is also one of the most “eco-friendly” blockchains today. By drifting away from the Proof-of-work consensus, Polygon managed to be one of the leading energy-saving companies in the market by using staking scaling solutions.
Being environmentally friendly is one of the reasons why Starbucks picked Polygon in this partnership.
Starbucks stated that it consciously decided to utilize Polygon because it was in line with the business’s commitment to sustainability. Proof-of-stake is the consensus algorithm used by Polygon, which requires a great deal less energy than first-generation blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
“Starbucks is committed to reducing its carbon, water and waste footprints and is taking a thoughtful and thorough approach as the company works towards the launch later this year.” The coffe house chain announced on a blog post. “Starbucks will utilize a “proof-of-stake” blockchain technology built by Polygon, which uses less energy than first generation “proof-of-work” blockchains. “
