Bubble or Breakthrough? Sparkling Water Brand Launches Drink-to-Earn NFT Gamification

Another day, another tokenized lifestyle play—this time, hydration gets the Web3 treatment. A new sparkling water brand is bundling each can with NFT ownership and ’points’ redeemable for... something. Because nothing says ’utility’ like digitized loyalty rewards for carbonated water consumption.

The mechanics: Scan your can, claim a procedurally-generated NFT (art: probably a droplet with sunglasses), accrue points toward ’premium rewards.’ Early adopters get ’rare’ NFTs—though rarity remains undefined beyond marketing buzzwords.

Why it reeks of 2021: The white paper promises ’community-driven hydration goals’ and ’liquid democracy governance.’ Translation: You’ll vote on next flavor while VCs cash out. One wallet per throat, please.

The cynical take: When the bull market fizzles, these NFTs will be worth less than the aluminum they’re printed on. But hey—stay hydrated while chasing those paper gains.

From Abstract team member Raj on X.

While the launch sold out on Wednesday, with over 220,000 cans of sparkling water purchased, the Rekt team said extra DRANK points were being given out by mistake.

“Devs are on it, will get it fixed,” the brand said in a post.

A member of the Abstract team confirmed to me that they aren’t involved in this project, but they said that future collabs between Rekt and Abstract are being explored.

Rekt Brands’ first drink, a lime-flavored sparkling water, was announced in November and similarly sold over 220,000 cans within 48 hours.

Rekt Brands previously raised $1.5 million in seeding funding late last year. Their brand was created following the 2022 NFT collection OSF launched called Rektguy.

Others have tried to bring crypto to the food and drink industry before, though the efforts thus far have primarily come from holders of Bored APE Yacht Club NFTs. There’s Ape Water, for instance, which is canned water with a Bored Ape emblazoned across it. In 2023, Snoop Dogg released ice cream inspired by his Bored Ape.

There was also a short-lived Bored Ape-themed burger joint, Bored & Hungry, which I visited back in 2022 (food was good, but most of the people there had zero clue what the Apes were, and didn’t care).

In the case of Rekt Brands, its limited-edition runs of sparkling water that you only hear about on Crypto Twitter don’t seem to be targeting the masses — but broader distribution may be coming soon.

Rekt is planning to release new flavors and bring back older ones, too, in future drops. It may also expand beyond just sparkling water.

“Our goal is to have mainstream distribution and we have been actively working on it over the past few months. There will be a point where people can get their hands on Rekt in their local store,” OSF told me in a DM, adding: “Maybe for some that’s sooner than they think.”

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