Billionaire entrepreneur and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced via an Open Forum on April 4th the company’s plans to create NFTs and enter the metaverse. While he did not specify the exact date, he said it would happen “before the end of this calendar year.” Schultz has been an advocate for digital currencies for years, and he made this announcement on his first day in his third stint as Starbucks CEO.

Other restaurants have been moving into the metaverse this year. McDonalds joined on Chinese Year, and KFC filed for NFT trademarks earlier this month.