Visa, the multinational financial services and electronic payments company, has just announced the purchase of a CryptoPunk, which will become part of its collection of historical objects.
Cuy Sheffield, Visa's director of cryptography, said to CNBC that the financial services multinational had invested more than $150.000 to acquire one of the popular CryptoPunks, a project by non-fungible tokens o NFT launched by Larva Labs on the network Ethereum in 2017, and has since become one of the main drivers of the modern CryptoArt movement.
Sheffield said that cryptopunks have become a “cultural icon” for members of the crypto community, and he highlighted the unique characteristics of NFTs that make these digital pieces unique collector’s items.
“We felt that a CryptoPunk would be a great addition to our collection of historical artifacts, which can chart and celebrate the past, present, and future of commerce.”, Sheffield said, while also stating that Visa wanted to own a cryptopunk because this NFT project was a pioneer of this innovation in the digital industry. Sheffield expressed that CryptoPunks drove most digital art and collectibles projects in blockchain that exist today. It is worth remembering that although CryptoPunks are not the first NFTs created in the history of cryptocurrencies, , was one of the first projects to publicize the potential of non-fungible tokens on Ethereum and spark the current wave of NFT trading.
The Visa executive said that because of all this, the newly acquired cryptopunk will become part of its collection of historical objects, many of which have great cultural and artistic value.
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Visa, owner of CryptoPunk #7610
Visa acquired cryptopunk #7610, representing one of the 3.840 female punks in the NFT project. This cryptopunk is one of 382 NFTs in the collection with green eyes; she is also one of 441 punks with “Mohawk” hair and one of 696 punks with colored lips, an attribute called “Hot Lipstick” by the project developers.
In 2017, the cryptopunk #7610 was sold for a value of only 0,60 ethers, about $114 at the time. Therefore, the recent purchase made by Visa highlights the great revaluation that these digital objects have had in the market in the last 3 years. Although the investment of the financial services multinational is significant, it is far from being the largest investment made for one of these NFTs. In March, the cryptopunk #7804 sold for a total of 4.200 ethers, more than $7,5 million at the time of sale.
They are not a passing fad
The Visa executive said the company's decision to acquire Cryptopunk was more about the vision and overall value of the NFT project than the value of Punk individually.
Although many consider NFTs to be a passing fad or a bubble that will soon burst, Visa considers it to be one of the greatest innovations of our time, which is why it also wants to understand how it works in order to encourage its partners and clients to enter this innovative digital world. The multinational financial services company published a document to help its clients understand the potential that the world of NFTs holds.
“To help our customers and partners participate, we need a first-hand understanding of the infrastructure requirements for a global brand to purchase, store and leverage an NFT.”, Sheffield said.
The company’s vision is to help its customers trade NFTs in the same way they do with traditional goods.
Certifying the value and potential of blockchain and NFT
Visa is seeing a lot of interest and significant demand for NFTs right now; an interest and demand that continues and will continue to grow in the future. In its view, a crypto address will become as important as an email address is today. Regarding NFTs, it assured that not only creators and artists will take advantage of this powerful innovation, but also merchants, brands and businesses will use the full potential of blockchain technology in a massive way to create new digital products that will reach their buyers instantly and securely, no matter where they are in the world.
“With our purchase of CryptoPunk we are jumping in first… This is just the beginning of our work in this space”, Sheffield said. Visa acquired its first cryptopunk in collaboration with Anchorage Digital, a crypto bank authorized by the OCC in the United States.
Visa in the world of cryptocurrencies
Visa began to show interest in cryptocurrencies and digital assets since 2019, so it established a working group dedicated to exploring this fast-growing industry. Since then, its advances in the digital world have been quite significant, so much so that last year it confirmed that it would integrate cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, such as USDC Coin (USDC), to its payment services, to respond to the growing demand and requirements of its customers.
The company has also launched several cryptocurrency cards to integrate these digital assets into its global payment network in partnership with various companies and businesses in the industry.
Continue reading: Visa confirms the integration of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins to its payment services
