Starbucks has announced the discontinuation of its Odyssey Beta program, an NFT-related initiative integrated into its existing rewards system. In an official blog post, the American multinational coffee chain stated that the Starbucks Odyssey Beta program “must come to an end to prepare for what comes next as we continue to evolve the program.”
The closure of Starbucks Odyssey Beta is scheduled for March 31. While the program will cease operations, Starbucks’ nonfungible tokens (NFTs), known as Stamps, will remain accessible on Nifty Gateway, a curated NFT platform. The Odyssey marketplace will transition to the Nifty marketplace, allowing Stamps, like other NFTs, to be transferred to external wallets and traded on other platforms.
Additionally, Starbucks Odyssey will shut down its Discord server on March 19. However, the company assured the community that it is considering future opportunities for members to connect.
While acknowledging the conclusion of the Starbucks Odyssey Beta program, Starbucks expressed gratitude for the community’s engagement and feedback. The company emphasized its commitment to leveraging insights gained from the program to enhance community and loyalty initiatives in the future.
The decision to shutter its NFT program may not be surprising to some, particularly after Starbucks’ First Store Collection failed to sell out in April 2023, despite initially being priced at $100 per token. Moreover, the news coincides with a period of historic lows in NFT mints on Ethereum, as reported by The Block’s data.