Move over candy bars, NYC vending machine is now selling NFT art

NEW YORK, March 1 (Reuters) – Digital art collection platform Neon has launched the first in-person non-fungible token (NFT) vending machine in New York City, with the aim of making artworks in line as readily available as sodas or a candy bar.

The twist? You have no idea what digital artwork you might buy.

“These are the crypto curious, the people who have tried to buy cryptocurrency or were interested in buying an NFT, but just encountered too many obstacles,” the CEO said. of Neon, Kyle Zappitell, in an interview with Reuters, about the vending machine’s target customer.

Located in a small storefront in Lower Manhattan’s Financial District with a sign outside that reads “NFT ATM,” it looks like a traditional ATM, but offers QR codes that are on slips in small paper boxes. Prices range from $5.99 to $420.69.

Once the QR code is scanned, the user can view their new artwork on any smartphone, laptop or tablet.

At the Lower Manhattan site, the codes lead to two categories of digital artwork, either a color or a pigeon image.

For Zappitell, the element of mystery is a natural extension of the digital art space.

“As an NFT collector, over time one of the things you love is the randomness of ‘Which one are you going to get? “”, Did he declare. “So that’s one of the exciting things.”

The works of art sold in the vending machine are based on the Solana blockchain, which guarantees carbon neutral transactions.

And while digital art is mostly offered through cryptocurrencies, Neon’s ATM accepts fiat currency – you can use a credit card to make a purchase.

Starting with $3 million in seed capital, Neon says it hopes to deploy more vending machines in malls and other public spaces.

“That’s one of the really powerful messages from this is how it’s using this old-world technology to enable the adoption of new global technology,” Zappitell said.

Reporting by Dan Fastenberg; Written by Karishma Singh; Editing by Leslie Adler

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