Not long ago, Visa bought its first CryptoPunk for $165,000. Since then, the giant has not stopped being interested in NFTs. The payment card giant doesn’t want to miss the train, let alone the rocket of this growing industry.
VISA wants its share of the NFT pie
The market for non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, has recorded $2.5 billion in revenue in the first half of 2021. Visa’s white paper describes NFTs as a “promising medium for fan engagement.” Visa’s entry into the NFT market was further motivated by an evaluation of the underlying technology: Ethereum (ETH) the network where the majority of transfers are executed.
The August 23 release described non-fungible tokens as representing an important innovation because NFTs are emerging at a time when fans are eager to join digital communities centered around their favorite artists or sports teams.
Professional sports have been particularly hard hit by the COVID pandemic, with an estimated $18 billion in lost revenue in major leagues around the world. According to Visa, this further reinforces the “need to diversify revenues and focus on technology to reposition businesses for growth opportunities and capture the attention of fans.”
In this sense, “NFTs appeal to collectors, fans, teams, leagues and talent,” the report says. In particular, NFTs can become key sources of fan engagement, customer relationship management and new revenue streams.
A real focus on NFTs
The main use cases for NFTs include collectibles, art and games. Moreover, a few days ago, VISA symbolically bought CryptoPunk #7610 and it was our friend Sami who told us about it on his Twitter.
“Over the past 60 years, Visa has built a collection of historic business artifacts – from the first paper credit cards to the zip-zap machine. Today, as we enter a new era of NFT commerce, Visa welcomes CryptoPunk #7610 to our collection.”
CryptoPunks is a collection of 10,000 unique NFTs with proof of ownership stored on the Ethereum network (ETH). A total of 2,519 CryptoPunk collectibles were sold in the last 30 days, totaling $467.4 million. During this period, the most lucrative sale was CryptoPunk #7252, which sold for 1,600 ETH, or $4.5 million.
Beyond the CryptoPunk craze, NFTs are also gaining popularity on all fronts. Total sales of NFTs exploded the counters in August, marking a new record for the industry. The previous record was set in May when total NFT sales volume reached $255 million.
Visa’s foray into NFTs is hardly surprising, given the payment company’s growing interest in digital assets. VISA seems to want to be everywhere and moreover is crunching the crypto transaction counters – With 3 forecasts for Bitcoin and the NFT sector.
