Visa Joins the NFT Craze, Buying A $150,000 CryptoPunk

Recently, Visa announced the $150,000 acquisition of a CryptoPunk, CryptoPunk 7610.

Well, the CryptoPunks are 10,000 unique collectible characters with proof of ownership stored on the Ethereum blockchain. The Cryptopunks are one of the first examples of a NFT on Ethereum, and were an inspiration for the ERC-721 standard that powers most digital art and collectibles.

The Credit card giant said that CryptoPunks have are a historic NFT project, bridging culture and commerce and that the firm has decided to purchase CryptoPunk 7610.

Visa said that NFTs are going to play a key role in the future of retail, social media, entertainment, and commerce. The firm wanted a firsthand understanding of the infrastructure requirements for a global brand to purchase, store, and leverage an NFT. Now, having worked with Anchorage Digital to conclude this process, the firm is better positioned to help its clients and partners navigate the process.

Source: Visa

 "In the near term, we want to help brands and businesses better understand NFTs and how they might be harnessed for customer and fan engagement." said, the firm.

Visa's crypto-centric credit and debit cards have processed an impressive $1 billion in the month of August so far. The firm said that it is thinking deeply about this space and how it can apply its expertise in enabling seamless and secure digital payments to make NFT-commerce accessible and useable for buyers and sellers.

Visa also published a paper with observations on today’s NFT landscape, along with actionable guidance on how to evaluate and scale NFT opportunities.