McDonald's Jumps on NFT Wagon, Releases 10-Piece Collection for Giveaway

McDonald's US has launched its first non-fungible tokens (NFTs). In a bid to do something big on the 40th anniversary of the McRib, McDonalds is releasing a limited edition of 10 McRib NFTs in the US. These NFTs are not available for purchase, but will be given away to lucky winners, the company revealed on Twitter. The deadline to try and bag one of the McRib NFTs is October 7.

“A valid Twitter account and Internet access are required to participate. Winners will need, within the timeframe detailed below, a valid cryptocurrency wallet capable of transacting in Ethereum, which can be established without cost. Participants and winners are not required to purchase any Ethereum cryptocurrency,” the official rules listed by the burger chain noted.

McDonald's posted a 10-seconds video on Twitter, showing its golden NFT. Take a look.

Within hours, the post garnered over 60,000 re-tweets and 35,000 likes – indicating that over 60,000 people were trying to win the McRibs NFT. Virtual representations of real-life objects, NFTs are digital artefacts that can be bought using cryptocurrencies.

The winners of McDonald's NFT giveaway will be announced later on October 12.

This is not the first case of a food brand jumping on the speeding NFT wagon in recent times.

Earlier in March, Taco Bell became the first fast food brand to release an NFT collection. The company showcased five versions of the “NFTacoBells” and sold five copies of each within 30 minutes on trading platform Rarible.

In September, burger mammoth Burger King partnered NFT platform Sweet to allow customers to scan a QR code and collect NFTs.

NFT sales volume surged to $10.7 billion (roughly Rs. 79,820 crores) in the third quarter of 2021, up more than eightfold from the previous quarter, according to data from market tracker DappRadar.

Surging sales and hefty prices on NFTs - items which do not physically exist - have baffled many but the multifold growth shows little or no depreciation whatsoever.