American Express has taken the plunge into the world of digital collectibles and NFTs with its latest offering for its credit card customers, with cardholders given a chance to purchase 14 unique digital images from R&B singer SZA’s performance.
Part Of A Broader Strategy
American Express anticipates that NFTs will gain significant mainstream appeal in the near future, and its customers will view them as a desirable perk. The collection in collaboration with SZA is part of a broader strategy through which the company is exploring different avenues to utilize the American Express rewards platform in offering a variety of digital assets as offers and perks.
According to Luke Gebb, the head of Digital Labs for Amex, American Express is looking to participate in even more NFT offerings in the near future. He also noted that Ethereum has over 750.000 unique users on Ethereum, a viable market that can be tapped into by the company.
Gebb further stated,
“Clearly, that’s a tech-savvy population at the moment, but it’s going more and more mainstream by the minute. We’re looking at a world and planning for a world in which it gets more mainstream, but this is early in the adoption cycle.”
A Few Details Of The Offering
The 14 unique digital images were taken from an SZA concert sponsored by American Express for its cardholders in June. Customers of Amex who attended the digital event can buy any of a total of 10 NFTs, with each priced at $100. Four more NFTs would go on sale on Monday to all American Express cardholders.
This is in line with American Express’s strategy to position itself as a lifestyle brand, according to Brandy Sanders, Vice President of global entertainment partnerships and experiences at Amex. The NFTs will be hosted and sold on Fanaply, an online NFT marketplace that has a relatively easy-to-use platform. Sanders further stated,
“We wanted to really create something where if you are not super comfortable in the NFT space just yet, but you are an SZA fan, we have something for you.”
Other Recent NFT Examples
The unique images will be stored on the Ethereum blockchain and can be traded and resold, just like other collectibles. The NFTs act as virtual contracts that can certify the ownership of the asset. The asset can be anything ranging from a digital painting, images, or audio.
Recent examples of NFT sales include the rock band Kings of Leon releasing their newest album as an NFT. The album eventually generated more than $2 million in sales. Beeple’s digital painting that sold for a whopping $69 million and a collectible video of a dunk by LeBron James, that sold for $208,000.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
