- Disney has embarked on a flashy NFT investment despite the crashing of the NFT market last year rendering most ‘tokens’ worthless
- Disney Pinnacle, a ‘digital pin and trading experience’ launched last month, has been criticized as ‘pointless’ and ‘a grift’ by its first users
- The venture comes as Disney battles depressed stock, an attack from a billionaire activist investor and succession problems
Disney, with depressed stock, a high-profile attack from an activist investor and succession concerns, has embarked on a speculative NFT investment.
Disney Pinnacle, a ‘digital pin and trading experience,’ was launched last month to offer fans the chance to buy and sell Disney, Pixar and Star Wars character NFTs.
These ‘non-fungible tokens’ are digital images which are given unique identification codes using blockchain – the same technology behind cryptocurrency – allowing them to be held as assets and traded online.
NFTs soared to eyewatering values during the heady days of the cryptocurrency boom but suffered a colossal crash when the Bitcoin market imploded last year.
Disney is now making a late entrance to the NFT market in its collaboration with Dapper Labs, which launched the Disney Pinnacle app late last year.
The ‘all-new socially driven collectible experience’ has been panned by some of its first invite-only users who have branded it ‘pointless’ and ‘a grift.’
‘I don’t see the appeal at all. [It} Feels like Chapek or somebody must have come up with this during the NFT hype phase and Disney took way too long to develop it because they suck at IT’, one early user wrote on Reddit.
‘It seems fairly pointless to me’ another wrote, ‘If it was interwoven with other Disney experiences such as visiting a park location or seeing a movie it would make more sense.
‘But NFTs are just a grift’ they wrote.
‘This whole thing is dumb’ a third added.
Disney Pinnacle evokes classic metal Disney pins, which die-hard fans have been collecting and trading for years, with some limited editions and older pins considered collectors items.
According to creators invited to use the app, pins cost around $9.95, and the revolving store front offers new pins every four hours, indicating whether or not new pins are more or less rare.
‘Disney Pinnacle is an all-new product designed from the ground up to incorporate everything we’ve learned over the past few years,’ says Roham Gharegozlou, co-founder and CEO of Dapper Labs, said in a statement announcing the launch.
‘Fans anywhere will be able to collect dynamic pins on their phone and trade instantly and securely with each other no matter where they are in the world.’
Dapper Labs were not willing to share the details of the licensing agreement, including how much Disney will be compensated for the use of its intellectual property or what the ongoing profit split will be.
‘We don’t disclose financials on any of our products, but can share that our closed release is going very well,’ Dapper Labs spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
The move into digital assets may signal Disney’s intent to become even more of an intellectual property powerhouse under CEO Bob Iger or a legacy project of short-lived CEO Robert Iger who once described the metaverse as ‘the next great storytelling frontier.’
Iger, who was brought back to the helm in November 2022 after his chosen successor Bob Chapek lasted just two years in the role, faces a battle with billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz.
Peltz, who has been building his $3 billion stake in the entertainment giant, wants to take on the company over how to boost profits and lift its share price.
Disney’s stock stands at $90 a share, a 17 percent dip on where it was five years ago and a long way from its peak at $201 in March 2021.
Disney is under pressure to reign in its spending and focus on profitability, having posted $1.6 billion streaming losses in the first nine months of 2023, despite Disney+ gaining 8 million subscribers in that time.
The traditional media company has already cut around 7,000 jobs during a gutting restructuring.
In November 2023, Iger announced that he would slash an additional $2 billion in costs on top of $5.5 billion worth of cuts in 2022.
Disney did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
This news is republished from another source.
