A New York City vending machine is now allowing users to purchase NFTs with fiat currency. Having closed a US$3 million seed round last month, the bold new project from Neon brings a Solana-based NFT marketplace to the real world:
With the goal of simplifying the NFT purchasing process, Neon’s co-founder and CMO Jordan Birnholtz collaborated on the idea with a summer intern in mid-2021 and soon came to the realisation that when it comes to ease of use, a vending machine ticks all the boxes.
We built it because it shows how powerful and easy it can be to support digital artists, and to demystify the process of getting an NFT.
Jordan Birnholtz, co-founder and CMO, Neon
Crypto Support is Coming
The vending machine is mounted within a shallow shopfront, highlighted by neon lighting. Users can make a purchase with a credit card and scan a QR code stored within the dispensed envelope to claim their NFTs online. Last month’s seed round closed a US$3 million profit and Neon intends to support crypto payments in future.
Expanding Accessibility of NFTs
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is rumoured to be launching an NFT marketplace of its own after it reportedly filed an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
As NFTs and cryptocurrencies develop, the financial sector is changing and updating its services to keep up. Mastercard has plans to offer consulting services for all things crypto this year. The brand’s payments-focused consulting service intends to expand its brief by catering to open banking, open data, crypto and digital currencies, and ESG.
By Lauren Claxton, Crypto News Guest Author