Everything We Know About The 'World's First NFT Restaurant'

The convergence of the food industry and the digital realm continues to surprise us. Chain restaurants like White Castle jumped on the bandwagon with their "Sliderverse" series (via PR Newswire), and McDonald's even released a McRib NFT (via Twitter). Now, a private dining club is taking the overlap between food and crypto art to the next level: The Flyfish Club will open in early 2023 in New York City, according to Cointelegraph, and will base its membership model around cryptocurrency.

For those who haven't heard of NFTs, the BBC offers a good beginner guide. An NFT is a non-fungible token, which means they have no physical or tangible form. However, it is a digital asset that signifies ownership. The Flyfish Club uses this concept by embedding the limited membership slots into NFTs. As explained on its website, there are 2650 NFTs for regular membership and 385 tokens for a premier level. The former is priced at 2.5 Ethereum (ETH), one of the most mainstream cryptocurrencies, and the latter comes in at 4.25 ETH. Once you own the token, the club's FAQ page explains, you may make a reservation at the restaurant. Any actual food and drinks on the seafood-centric menu will be purchased in USD.

Some people might think that limiting the customer base of a seafood restaurant to just over 3000 customers in New York City is a confusing move. This is especially true as there is no membership subscription to the Flyfish Club. As explained on the club's website, there are no recurring or annual fees. You just need the membership NFT, which you own and can resell as you wish. 

So how much will it cost to snag a membership at the club? The price will fluctuate with the value of the Ethereum cryptocurrency. As of writing, CoinMarketCap puts the price of Ethereum at $3,268.86. Therefore, a basic membership would require a purchase of $8,172.15, while the more exclusive membership is worth $13,892.65. Those prices only mark the value of Ethereum today. If you look at the cryptocurrency's entire history on CoinMarketCap, it has more than doubled in value over the course of 2021. Currently, it's recovering from a slight slump, but with innovations like the Flyfish Club pumping excitement into new uses of NFTs, it's possible that the coin will continue to increase in value for a bit longer.