Visa is looking into the increasingly popular NFT industry. Visa stated yesterday to have purchased a “CryptoPunk” non-fungible token (NFT) for nearly $150,000.
Cuy Sheffield, head of the crypto at Visa, said that this purchase was to show that the company is “not shying away” from taking part in an ascendant sector of the art market. In an email, he wrote:
“Our excitement about this project is less about any individual Punk and more about the CryptoPunk collection as a whole and what it represents—the beginnings of a new chapter for digital commerce. This is just the beginning. We’re eager to continue building our NFT collection and to support the diverse group of artists and creators working in this space.”
Cuy thinks that the NFT market requires banks to mediate between NFT creators and larger audiences. Moreover, in his words:
“For NFT-commerce to become mainstream, NFTs should be as easy to purchase as traditional e-commerce experiences where consumers can leverage their existing Visa cards at the checkout instead of having to purchase a cryptocurrency first to buy their NFT.”
People within the crypto community greeted Visa’s move as a validation of their strong interests.
Moreover, with Visa’s big purchase, CryptoPunks demand has grown significantly. As a result, many auction houses like Christie’s and Sotherby’s offered CryptoPunks for selling their NFTs.
After Visa’s announcement, Coindesk reported that 90 CryptoPunks NFTs sold up in the next hour. Moreover, the combined sales were around $20 million. Also, data from CryptoSlam shows that 293 CryptoPunk NFTs were sold for almost $77 million.
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