Starbucks Brews New NFT Platform

Welcome to The Drop NFT Newsletter. Breaking NFT news, project breakdowns, & artist spotlights - We do the heavy lifting so you don't have to! Join our Discord to win raffles and allow list spots!

We have a LinkedIn

What's Dropping ⚡️

• Starbucks settles on Polygon Blockchain for their NFT-based rewards program. Much more on this below. (coindesk)

• Google has received so many searches regarding the Ethereum merge that they have created a countdown timer for it. Check it out here. (google)

• Here's some bullish news regarding the English language, Merriam-Webster Dictionary just added "metaverse" and "altcoin" to the dictionary. (decrypt)

• The creators of Axie Infinity have experienced massive security during their projects' short lifespan. Google Cloud has partnered with them (Sky Mavis) to hone in on this issue. (cointelegraph)

• Ubisoft folds under the pressure of the public eye, claiming they are only "researching" NFTs and crypto. (pcgamer)

• Marketplace and investing platform FTX has acquired a stake in Skybridge Capital firm and will be aiding them in fleshing out their crypto portfolio. (prnewswire)

• Lunar project announces their partnership with Blacksmith Lab's Mercury tool to help manage their whitelist collection. (@Lunarprojectnft)

• Another huge milestone for Cets on Creck as they hit over 400,000 total trade volume in SOL. (@magicden)

Starbucks Dives Into NFTs With Polygon ☕️

And the summer rage of NFT onboarding continues with Starbucks as the latest major retailer to integrate NFTs into its ecosystem. Only recently we’ve seen FOX, UTA, Mars, Ticketmaster, Tom Brady and LG harness the power of NFTs to push their products forward. Later this year, Starbucks will unveil an evolved version of its Starbucks Rewards loyalty program with Starbucks Odyssey. As the rewards program name suggests, subscribers will partake in various digital ‘journeys’ that include games and quizzes and acquire what they are calling ‘journey stamps.’ These stamps will be NFTs that subscribers will earn and that will unlock access to new benefits and immersive coffee experiences. Starting September 12th you can join a waitlist for the opportunity to be among the first selected for the Starbucks Odyssey experience.

No separate wallet will be required to store the stamps, the Starbucks app will take care of everything providing a seamless user interface for people foreign to the Web3 environment. Each stamp will represent some number of points depending on its rarity, they can be bought and sold on the Odyssey marketplace, and used to unlock experiences ranging from lessons to trips. Starbucks has gone with the Polygon network citing environmental reasons as its primary determinant for what blockchain to use. As the year unfolds we’ll get to see just how cleanly the system actually functions.

Polygon continues to shine when it comes to partnering with some of the biggest names across various industries. For instance, to just name a few, Polygon has and is working with Draft Kings, Liverpool Football Club, Adidas & Prada, Adobe, Meta, Stripe, and many more.

What is Polygon?

"Polygon is a decentralized Ethereum scaling platform that enables developers to build scalable user-friendly dApps with low transaction fees without ever sacrificing on security"

A full breakdown of the press release by Starbucks can be read here.

Tyga In Lawsuit Over NFT Collection ⚖️

With more and more regulatory eyes being placed on the crypto space as a whole, we’re starting to see more and more lawsuits pop up. The justice system is starting to recognize the blockchain and the crimes committed on it. While most of these lawsuits stem from insider trading, quite a few rugpulls and project abandonments are also starting to be presented in the courts.

TYGA, the famous Columbia Records hip-hop artist, is facing a lawsuit from Kreation Technologies. They are claiming that he did not hold up the end of his deal in promoting the Ten Thousand TYGA project, and they want a sum of $500,000 for his actions. Tyga apparently received over $100,000 as a signing bonus to promote the project, and his responsibility was to design, market, and sell the NFT projects, of which there were 3 (10,000-piece Genesis collection, 75-piece rare collection, 1/1 exclusive collection). The project was supposed to be a special collection for his fans, and it was directly linked to him. Hell, his name is in the project title.

Kreation is claiming that Tyga didn’t promote the project whatsoever, whether that means posting on social media accounts or going on interviews. Apparently, he didn’t even post about the project on the day of the launch. At the time of inception, the project was boasting about giving a different level of engagement with Tyga, and being able to be a part of his metaverse. What Tyga’s lawyers did instead is send a letter to the marketplace where these NFTs were featured to remove them. And remove them they did. Tyga, you’re NGMI. Also, respond to the lawsuit. Tik tok. Tik tok.

Anybodies Utility Shines 👕

The big question that is generally asked especially by non-NFT believers is “what real-life value do these internet pictures have?”. Anybodies, a Solana-based digital fashion brand styling the metaverse has joined the league of NFT projects to give answers to that question. Anybodies are a collection of 3,000 unique, hand-painted NFTs by Xidingart, founded on two key values: inclusivity and representation.

Anybodies have been slept on for quite some time until their perks and real life applications started popping up on Twitter timelines. From the Nobodies (a mutation given to Anybodies owners that allows them to create their own avatars with traits) to 3D wardrobes, in-game and physical merchandise, and now a new drop that features a Wear & Earn utility, backstage tickets to major concerts or free Starbucks coffee.

The Anybodies and Tay Keith sweater dropped yesterday and it was sold out in less than 2 hours. The sweater will use a combination of NFT, NFC (near field communication), and Blockchain technology to offer true physical to digital experiences, ownership, and utility. The sweater will be physically linked to your NFT by connecting and signing a transaction to activate your sweater through the NFC chip designed with it. This comes with a mobile app that brings everything all in one place, holders will receive push notifications every time there’s a reward to be claimed. Rewards are available every 30-120 minutes which of course is on a FCFS basis.

With this technology, Anybodies are en route to making it possible for brands to continuously drive new reward campaigns via their merchandise to customers.

Check out the Anybodies website here.

Meme Drop 💧

Sponsored Content: There was no sponsored content in this newsletter

Recent Articles 📰

• Web3 Funding Hasn't Stopped

• Tom Brady's Autograph NFT Launch

• What are Soulbound Tokens?

• Mint Of The Year - The y00ts Takeover

• 3 NFT Trading Tools You Should Know About

Disclaimer: The Drop DOES NOT provide financial advice. All content is for informational purposes only. The Drop is not a registered investment, legal, or tax advisor or a broker/dealer. Trading any crypto-related asset is extremely risky and could result in significant capital losses.

Follow the team:

Gannon Breslin, Kayla Kilbride, CryptoVonDoom, Naveed Lalani, Alex Reed, Naman Patel, Big Tuna

Want to advertise your brand to 25,000+ readers?

Submit a form here.

Want to get your project featured?

Submit a form here.