American Express, the multinational financial services corporation, just broke into the cryptocurrency space with NFT’s. Nearly $2.5 billion was spent on NFT’s in the first six months of 2021, according to a DappRadar report, and Amex wants a piece of that pie. Amex sold 14 NFTs displaying singer “SZA” ‘s virtual concert performance hosted by Amex.
10 of those NFT’s were exclusively sold to concert attendees for $100 a piece, while four were put on sale on July 12th to any Amex card holder for the same price. According to the company spokeswoman this drop was “The first drop sold out” making it an enormous success.
Just like the tickets to the SZA concert, these NFT’s were only able to be purchased by Amex cardholders. Amex is currently selling exclusive NFT art pieces, not giving out any for free. Currently Amex does not have any confirmed plans for NFTs or cryptocurrency, although this could be the start of something big as the credit card company intends to release more in the future. NFT’s at discounted prices or free from credit card points possibly? Sign me up.
According to Luke Gebb, Amex is looking to participate in more NFT offerings in the near future due to Ethereum having over 750,000 unique users on chain. Which would allow Amex to tap into this market if done correctly to attract NFT collectors to the Amex platform.
It makes perfect sense that American Express or any credit card or financial institution would get involved within this space. Specifically for the reasons, Luke Gebb has stated, the head of digital labs for Amex. Luke Gebb mentions how NFT’s and cryptocurrency are “going more and more mainstream by the minute” and how American Express wanted to create something beginner-friendly within the NFT space.
“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.”
Luke Gebb
As mainstream adoption seems inevitable, more and more financial institutions are trying to find ways to embrace the space of blockchain/cryptocurrency and NFTs to stay ahead of the game and be a part of early adoption instead of being left behind and losing business.