- Title: Move over candy bars; NY vending machine sells NFT art
- Date: 1st March 2022
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MARCH 1, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) CEO AND CO-FOUNDER OF NEON PLATFORM, 24, KYLE ZAPPITELL, SAYING: "The price range is 5.99 to 420.69. The $420, again, that's one, that's one out of 10,000. And people can just pay with a credit card so you don't need any crypto. You don't need any crypto knowledge. You walk up to the ATM and you tap your credit card, [REPORTER ASKING: So you're hoping for regular people to just come up here?] ZAPPITELL SAYING: "Yep, and that's what we have right now, which is really cool. Over 50 percent of people who have used neon, who have bought an NFT have never owned an NFT before, but they're able to buy one because of this ATM." NEON SIGN ON EXTERIOR READING, "BUY COLORS / BUY PIGEONS" VARIOUS OF TANGIBLE VERSIONS OF NFT BIRDS ON DISPLAY THAT ARE BEING SOLD AT VENDING MACHINE (SOUNDBITE) (English) CEO AND CO-FOUNDER OF NEON PLATFORM, 24, KYLE ZAPPITELL, SAYING: "What's kind of fun about the vending machine is you don't know what you're going to get, so you buy the color, could be any color, you buy a pigeon, could be any pigeon. And so, it's one of the fun gamified dimensions of NFTs, that, me as a NFT collector over time, one of the things you love is the randomness of like, 'which one are you going to get?' And you don't really have that decision there. So that's one of the exciting aspects." SIGN ABOVE VENDING MACHINE THAT READS, "NFT's FOR SALE HERE" SIGN ON WALL OF PIGEONS, COLORS TANGIBLE VERSIONS OF COLOR NFT ART BEING SOLD AT VENDING MACHINE 23. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CEO AND CO-FOUNDER OF NEON PLATFORM, 24, KYLE ZAPPITELL, SAYING: "I think a lot of people go into NFTs hoping for some financial return. When we sell NFTs, we're selling digital art and digital collectibles. We want you to buy something that you love, not because you're seeking a financial return. So we're excited to, you know, you get a color and we're hoping that's some color that you really love, or we're hoping that that some pigeon that you really identify with and you want to use as your profile picture on Twitter. Not something for a big financial return." VARIOUS EXTERIOR OF NFT ATM
- Embargoed: 15th March 2022 23:19
- Keywords: Lower Manhattan NFT NFT vending machine New York financial district cryto
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / UNKNOWN LOCATION
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / UNKNOWN LOCATION
- Country: USA
- Topics: Economic Events,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA003128701032022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Digital art normally exists in the non-tangible cyber world that's often hard to access or even understand. But a digital art collecting platform has launched the first in-person non-fungible token (NFT) vending machine in New York City aiming to make such art pieces as available as a soda or candy bar.
The NFT ATM looks like any traditional vending machine, but it offers QR [quick response] codes that come on slips in small paper boxes. The drops range in price starting at $5.99 and go up to $420.69.
Launched by Neon, a digital art platform, the vending machine is of a piece with opportunities like in-person art galleries that are bringing digital items into the analog world.
Located in Lower Manhattan's financial district, Neon's vending machine appears in a small commercial space adorned with posterized iterations of the digital art items, set to neon lighting.
Neon's aim is to make inscrutable digital more accessible, its CEO said in an interview with Reuters.
"We haven't met someone yet who hasn't used a vending machine before," said Kyle Zappitell, the CEO and co-founder of Neon. "It's for everyone."
Indeed, Neon says roughly half of their customers have never before purchased an NFT.
The vending machine is protected with a security camera on top. And its NFT art pieces rely on the Solana blockchain, which ensures carbon neutral transactions.
And while digital art is mostly offered via cryptocurrencies, Neon's vending machine accepts traditional fiat currency.
"You don't need any crypto knowledge. You walk up to the ATM and you tap your credit card," Zappitell added, as he showed how to make a purchase.
Once the QR code is utilized, the user can view their new piece of art on any smartphone, laptop or tablet.
But while traditional vending machine consumers control which item they choose, those at Neon's machine will have little option other than initial price point.
For Zappitell, the element of mystery was a natural extension of the digital art space.
"As a NFT collector over time, one of the things you love is the randomness of like, 'which one are you going to get?' And you don't really have that decision there. So that's one of the exciting aspects."
Starting with $3 million in seed money, Neon hopes to roll out more vending machines in malls and other public spaces, it says.
At the Lower Manhattan site, the codes lead to two categories of digital art pieces, either a color or a pigeon.
"We want you to buy something that you love, not because you're seeking a financial return," he said.
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