Gift card providers are building innovative partnerships to enter the NFT space

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NFTs or Non Fungible Tokens have gained popularity across industries and professions, and people, from visual artists to musicians, have generated high profit from buying and selling them in 2021. Because of its uniqueness, the NFT market had reached around 49 billion dollars in 2021 globally, according to a blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis Inc. Therefore, various other sectors are entering the space vying for the lucrative market.  

Notably, one of the key gift card players, Blackhawk Network, dived into the space through a partnership with a blockchain wallet provider, Bitski, in April 2022. Both companies launched an innovative NFT gift card with virtual and real-world utilities. Particularly, it is a collaboration of the gift card provider with the Bitski and AMC Theatres, a movie theatre chain in the United States, to promote the NFT gift card. This partnership will enable the first hundred people to buy AMC Theatres gift cards worth US$50 or more will and receive one of the 100 limited-edition NFTs. Most importantly, Bitski is allowing the gift card provider to expand its business with brands, including AMC Theatres® and Giftcards.com.

NFTs have been rapidly changing the world of artists and revolutionizing how NFT artists can work, create new projects, take ownership of their art, and earn revenue in return. The artist behind these NFTs is Jon Shelley or Kryptoz, who has worked as a senior 3D artist in the market. Specifically, he contributed to films including Marvel’s Black Panther, The Christmas Chronicles, and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Apart from this, Shelley also worked on the game cinematics for League of Legends and Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr. In addition, Shelley is also known for his iconic avatars, which are gaining popularity in the Metaverse ecosystem. Therefore, this experienced and popular artist’s creation is expected to attract a significant number of collectors and fans in the country.

Moreover, through this gift card, the recipients can access the Kryptoz NFTs after registering and redeeming the promotion via Bitski. Thereafter, the NFT can be sold or kept as a collection or may be used in the Metaverse by the user.

This is a customer loyalty strategy of the brands and businesses to attract digitally active customers through the exciting and authentic NFT promotions and products. Notably, this NFT market has the potential to be one of the most trailblazing customer loyalty opportunities in the next decade. Therefore, the NFT market has opened a whole new scope for both the brands to earn revenue as well as new innovative opportunities for gift card providers to capture more market share in the new space through this collaboration.

The digital gift card segment witnessed a significant surge throughout 2021 as a result of the Covid-19-induced lockout and movement limitations and is likely to continue its upward trajectory in 2022. It is expected that more gift card providers will enter the arena of NFT and help brands and businesses retain customers through innovative collaborations in the country over the next four to six quarters.

To know more and gain a deeper understanding of the gift card market in the United States, click here.