Customers Can Reload Starbucks Card With Bitcoin And Ethereum As Coffeehouse Explores 'Tokenizing Stars'

The world’s largest coffeehouse Starbucks Corporation SBUX is exploring ways to “tokenize” Starbucks Rewards.

What Happened: On its fourth-quarter earnings call, Starbucks President and CEO Kevin Johnson explained that newly formed partnerships with PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL and Bakkt Holdings Inc BKKT had helped expand the company’s efforts with respect to digital currency.

Through the "Stars for Everyone" loyalty program, customers can now reload their Starbucks card with a range of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin BTC/USD and Ethereum ETH/USD, said Johnson.

“Through blockchain or other innovative technologies, we are exploring how to tokenize Stars, create the ability for other merchants to connect their rewards program to Starbucks Rewards,” he said. “This will enable customers to exchange value across brands, engage in more personalized experiences, enhance digital services, and exchange other loyalty points for Stars at Starbucks.”

What Else: Starbucks customers in El Salvador can make purchases directly with Bitcoin at outlets of the coffeehouse in the region, thanks to the nation’s Bitcoin Law, which came into effect on Sept. 7.

As per reports, users scan QR codes displayed at the counter and make payments directly through their Bitcoin wallets.

Price Action: At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $64,800, down 5.47% in the last 24 hours. The market-leading digital asset had a daily trading volume of $48 billion and accounted for 43% of the cryptocurrency market.

Photo: Khadeeja Yasser on Unsplash