One of the largest global payment operators is entering the NFT market. Visa has purchased a CryptoPunk for $150,000!
Bonus to the collection
On August 18, the American company, which is also one of the leading electronic payment operators, purchased one of the famous NFT tokens from the CryptoPunks collection. It was a token with the number #7610, whose value was 49.5 ETH, which at the time of purchase meant the amount of $150 thousand. The company made its purchase using fiat currencies, while using the Anchorage bank.
This transaction is best summed up by Visa’s Manager, Cuy Sheffield:
“We thought CryptoPunks would be a great addition to our collection of artifacts that can define the past, present and future of commerce. We believe NFTs will play an important role in future retail, social media and entertainment. To help our customers and partners participate in this market, we need to see firsthand the infrastructure requirements facing a global brand looking to buy, store and leverage NFTs.”
What are CryptoPunks?
CryptoPunks is a collection of 10,000 24×24 pixel NFT images. It was created in 2017. Originally, many tokens from the collection were given away for free, while today their value has increased significantly. For example, the Lavra Labs team, on August 23, sold 60 NFTs belonging to CryptoPunks projects in just an hour. The cost of each individual transaction was at least $200,000.
Visa and its reach
Visa does not need to be introduced to anyone. Almost everyone carries a card of this global brand in their wallet. However, not everyone knows how huge its reach is.
The company was founded in 1958 and was then called BankAmericard. The same year it issued its first payment card, created of course for the Bank of America. In turn, since 2008 Visa has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
It is worth noting that in 2014, 2.3 billion Visa cards were granted worldwide. The number of operations performed with them was almost 65 billion, and their total value was $7.3 trillion. Currently, the number of financial institutions issuing and servicing Visa cards amounts to almost 21 thousand units.
Visa influences perception of NFT market
NFTs stir up very mixed emotions. On many occasions lawyers have commented on their issue, pointing out that the possession of non-exchangeable tokens does not grant copyright to them, so they cannot be commercialized and distributed in any way. Despite this, the prices of some works have already reached astronomical amounts, thus dividing cryptocurrency market participants into die-hard fans and strong skeptics. Visa’s entry into this sector may make a positive impression on the latter and consequently change their point of view. The same movement, in turn, has the right to lead in the long run to a change in regulations, thanks to which the holders of NFT will have slightly more rights over the purchased works. This topic is undoubtedly a hot one. We will be watching to see in which direction it develops.
