While NFTs have been in trend recently, it has taken a step ahead in New York City. The digital art collecting platform Neon has installed the world’s first NFT atm; a vending machine. The goal is to make online art as accessible as soda or candy bars. However, it’s not as simple as it sounds. The fun part here is, you don’t know the art you’ll get.
“It’s the crypto curious, the people who tried to buy cryptocurrency or they were interested in buying an NFT, but they just hit too many barriers,” Neon CEO Kyle Zappitell said in an interview with Reuters.
It looks like a conventional vending machine, but it proposes QR codes on slips in small paper boxes. It’s located in a small storefront in Lower Manhattan’s financial district with a sign outside that says “NFT ATM.” Prices range from $5.99 to $420.69 for the drops.
The digital art used Solana Blockchain for the sales
QR codes in the Lower Manhattan location connect to two types of digital art. Either a pigeon image or a color. Mystery, according to Zappitell, is a natural extension of the digital art environment.
Articles in the vending machine utilize the Solana blockchain, which delivers carbon-neutral transactions. While most digital art is traded using bitcoin, the Neon vending machine acknowledges fiat payments and credit cards. Neon says it plans to broaden its vending machine network in malls and other public locations, starting with a $3 million investment.
“That’s one of the really powerful messages of this, is how it’s using this old-world technology to enable the adoption of new world technology,” said Zappitell.
