In 2021, the NFT market entered a historic frenzy. Beeple’s digital artwork sold for $69.34 million, CryptoPunks’ floor price surpassed 40 ETH, and total market trading volume soared to $23.7 billion the following year. That same year, Japanese instant noodle giant Nissin Foods made what seemed like a natural move: partnering with the popular NFT project Cool Cats to digitize its iconic Cup Noodles imagery and release them as limited-edition virtual artworks.
It was a classic narrative of a “brand embracing Web3.” Nissin hoped to build a blockchain-based fan club through NFTs, granting token holders rights such as purchasing limited-edition physical products or receiving priority access to offline events. The metaverse wave followed closely behind. Some Japanese food companies opened virtual ramen shops on platforms like Roblox and Decentraland, where players completed tasks to earn points exchangeable for crypto tokens or real-world discount vouchers. Even vending machines began experimenting with crypto payments, allowing customers to buy instant noodles with stablecoins.
Five years later, in 2026, what remains of those high-profile Web3 experiments?
I. Nissin and Cool Cats: A Collaboration Without a Sequel
A news announcement at the end of 2023 offered a window into Nissin’s Web3 efforts. That year, San FranTokyo and Animoca Brands Japan announced a partnership to strategically invest in and expand the Cool Cats IP across Japan and Asia. Plans included producing Cool Cats manga, launching digital collectibles, and integrating the IP into offline scenarios.
Nissin’s name, however, did not reappear.
Cool Cats remains one of the few blue-chip NFT projects that survived the crypto winter. Its vision is to become an entertainment brand driven by community-centered storytelling and innovation, aiming to onboard one million holders within five years. To achieve this, Cool Cats partnered with Ledger for brand education initiatives, collaborated with Hologram to offer 3D avatar experiences via holographic tech, and even worked with Macy's to launch NFT-themed parade balloons.
Yet the co-branded Cup Noodles NFTs between Nissin and Cool Cats are now nearly impossible to find on secondary markets. On mainstream trading platforms such as OpenSea, trading volume has effectively dropped to zero, and floor prices are nonexistent. As one Japanese crypto collector lamented on social media: “I paid 0.1 ETH for that limited-edition Cup Noodles NFT back then. Now I can’t even give it away.”
This was not unique to Nissin. Many traditional brands that entered Web3 during the same period faced similar struggles. Starbucks once launched its high-profile “Odyssey” NFT membership program to boost customer loyalty, but lacking tangible benefits, user engagement remained weak, and the project was eventually scaled back. Disney also shelved its metaverse theme park plans due to high costs and unclear monetization.
These cases point to the same issue: brands saw the hype of Web3 but failed to identify a meaningful integration with their core business. For an instant noodle company, NFTs were ultimately a marketing stunt rather than an organic business extension.
II. Metaverse Ramen Shops: Traffic That Never Converted Into Sales
Japanese food brands’ metaverse ventures similarly faded into obscurity.
Between 2022 and 2023, multiple Japanese brands opened virtual stores on Decentraland and Roblox. One particularly notable example was a well-known food company’s metaverse ramen shop. Users could purchase virtual ramen with cryptocurrency, experience the ritual of “eating” in a digital space, complete quests to earn tokens, and redeem them for real-world discount coupons.
At the time, these initiatives were hailed as exemplary cases of “brand rejuvenation.” Data showed that Gen Z, as digital natives, had growing demand for virtual identities and social consumption. Users aged 18–35 accounted for 70% of virtual goods consumers, spending an average of RMB 250 annually on such goods, with 47% driven by social display needs.
Yet five years later, reality tells a different story. Decentraland’s daily active users have fallen from tens of thousands at its peak to fewer than a thousand. Once-bustling virtual storefronts now sit empty. An operator involved in one metaverse ramen shop revealed: “Within six months of launch, daily visits dropped to double digits. Operating costs far exceeded revenue. Internally, the company stopped discussing the project long ago.”
The core issue was that virtual traffic never effectively converted into physical product sales. Data shows that fewer than 10% of NFT users purchase the associated brand’s physical products. When the strategic goal of turning “digital users into real-world consumers” failed, the metaverse projects lost their commercial rationale.
III. Crypto Vending Machines: Technically Feasible, Commercially Absent
Some unmanned retail cabinets in Japan did experiment with crypto payments for instant noodles. During pilot phases, users could scan a QR code and pay with Bitcoin, Ethereum, or yen-pegged stablecoins, completing the transaction in about ten seconds.
From a technical perspective, this was exciting. Blockchain technology addresses cross-border payments and micro-settlement challenges, theoretically allowing tourists to shop in Japan using familiar cryptocurrencies without exchanging yen.
From a business perspective, however, the experiment has yet to scale. The reason is simple: most consumers do not hold cryptocurrency, and those who do rarely want to use it to buy instant noodles. One tourist in Tokyo wrote online: “To buy a 300-yen cup of noodles, I had to open my cold wallet, scan a code, confirm the signature, and wait for the transaction—three minutes. With cash, it would have taken 15 seconds.”
This reflects a broader misalignment. Food retail is high-frequency, low-cost, and convenience-driven. Crypto payments remain low-frequency, complex, and relatively slow. No number of pilot machines can bridge that structural gap.
The sale of digital asset subsidiary RTFKT by Nike underscores this shift. In 2021, Nike acquired RTFKT as a key step in accelerating its digital transformation, aiming to serve a new generation at the intersection of sports, creativity, gaming, and culture. Four years later, RTFKT was quietly sold, accompanied by investor lawsuits exceeding $5 million. Observers noted that many buyers of RTFKT’s virtual sneakers were crypto investors and metaverse enthusiasts with little demand for Nike’s physical products. The strategy of converting “digital users into real-world consumers” again fell short.
IV. Supply Chain Traceability: The Overlooked Real Value
Among all Web3 experiments, one direction has received the least attention yet may hold the most genuine value.
Japanese instant noodle giants have explored enabling consumers to scan QR codes to view authentic data about wheat origins and production dates via blockchain. Companies like Suntory and Nestlé have been more proactive in this space, while instant noodle brands remain in an exploratory phase.
The logic is straightforward: record the full journey of wheat—from cultivation and harvest to processing and packaging—on-chain to create immutable records. Consumers can verify product authenticity, trace raw material origins, and review inspection reports. For the food industry, this addresses real pain points: food safety, origin fraud, and supply chain transparency.
Unlike NFT marketing or metaverse storefronts, traceability solves genuine problems rather than manufacturing artificial demand. It supports core operations rather than peripheral gimmicks and creates long-term value instead of short-lived hype.
Ironically, this has been the area with the least investment and slowest progress. As one industry insider commented: “Brands are willing to spend millions on NFT marketing because it generates headlines and buzz. Spend the same amount on traceability systems, and consumers don’t see it, media doesn’t cover it, and stock prices don’t rise. So traceability always comes last.”
V. The Answer Five Years Later
In 2026, looking back at Japanese instant noodle giants’ Web3 experiments, the answer becomes clearer.
NFT marketing left little behind. Limited-edition Cup Noodles NFTs now sit idle in a handful of wallets, virtually worthless. Virtual store traffic has evaporated. The metaverse hype has shifted to new concepts. Crypto vending machines proved technically feasible but failed to find scalable commercial scenarios.
Over five years, traditional brands’ understanding of Web3 evolved from frenzy to rational recalibration. Nike’s divestment of RTFKT revealed the logic: when core businesses face pressure and growth slows, high-investment, slow-return, high-risk Web3 ventures become natural targets for strategic retrenchment.
The same logic applies to Japanese instant noodle companies. Food industry margins are thin, and every dollar must be spent carefully. Amid cost pressures and intensifying competition, experiments unrelated to selling noodles struggle to secure sustained investment.
The real value may lie elsewhere. If even half of the resources once devoted to NFT marketing had been invested in supply chain traceability, consumers today might be scanning QR codes to verify the wheat origin of every cup of noodles. It lacks virality, social media buzz, and headline appeal—but it strengthens food safety, builds consumer trust, and enhances brand credibility.
After the bubble bursts, what remains is true value. For Japanese instant noodle giants, five years of Web3 experimentation may offer a simple lesson: the most sensational initiatives were the least essential; the most understated directions may deserve the most serious commitment.
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