Starbucks is pulling the plug on Odyssey, its Web3 rewards program that gave members entry to collectible NFTs. The corporate up to date its on Friday to let members know that the beta program is closing on March 31, they usually have slightly over every week left to finish any remaining actions (referred to as journeys). These will shut down March 25. Customers gained’t lose their Stamps (Starbucks’ NFTs), that are hosted on Nifty Gateway, however they’ll have to enroll in Nifty utilizing their Starbucks Rewards e mail to entry them there, in the event that they haven’t already.
Starbucks was late to the NFT sport with Odyssey, which launched in beta in late 2022 — effectively after curiosity within the digital collectibles peaked. Not like another NFT ventures from main manufacturers, although, it gave the impression to be aiming for greater than a fast money seize. It gamified the rewards system, providing actions and coffee-related mini-games that inspired members’ ongoing participation.
In a dialog with printed simply final month, Odyssey group lead Steve Kaczynski emphasised the group aspect, saying, “I’ve seen that individuals who stay in California within the Starbucks Odyssey group are actually good associates with individuals in Chicago they usually have met up in actual life at instances. This by no means would have occurred if not for Web3.” However it’s 2024, and types and customers alike have lengthy since moved on from NFTs. (Naturally, Forum3, which labored with Starbucks on Odyssey, appears to have pivoted to AI).
Starbucks says the Odyssey market, the place members might purchase and promote their stamps, will transfer over to the Nifty market. They will additionally withdraw their Stamps to commerce them on different platforms.