coinquora.com
- Visa entered the NFT craze by giving a review of the technology that drives NFTs.
- According to Visa, NFTs “emerged as a promising medium for fan engagement.”
- Visa mentioned NFT transactions produced more than $1.5B in the first quarter of 2021.
Visa published a whitepaper assessing the technology behind NFT and how it became a “promising medium for fan engagement”. Visa’s announcement of buying its first NFT—CryptoPunk 7610 was also mentioned alongside the release of the whitepaper.
According to Visa,
When COVID-19 restrictions put a swift and definitive pause on live sports and entertainment, digital technologies led the way in connecting fans worldwide to the brands, teams, and personalities they love. In this context, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have emerged as a promising medium for fan engagement.
The whitepaper published last August 23 described NFTs as an important invention during the pandemic. This period showed strict restrictions to live enjoyment such as music festivals and live sports events. During this time, the only way that fans could get closer to their favourite artists is through online events. Then, NFTs emerged, bridging people with their favourites artists and sports teams.
NFTs appeal to collectors, fans, teams, leagues, and talent,” Visa says. In addition, NFTs have become primary sources of entertainment and engagement—not to mention, new revenue streams. Several industries like the major leagues around the world have been hit by the pandemic greatly. With this, Visa says this brought about the “need to diversify revenues and focus on technology to reposition businesses for growth opportunities and to capture the attention of fans.
Today, NFTs are becoming more popular. Not only that, reports state that NFT transactions produced more than $1.5B in the first quarter of 2021. Further, for August alone, experts say NFT sales are most likely to exceed $900 million. If so, this will be a new record for the industry.
Going back, this whitepaper came along with Visa’s announcement of its first NFT purchase, CryptoPunk 7610, as mentioned earlier.
Over the last 60 years, Visa has built a collection of historic commerce artifacts – from early 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. https://t.co/XoPFfwxUiu
— VisaNews (@VisaNews) August 23, 2021
Visa purchased CryptoPunk for $150,000 and chose 7610 among the thousands of CryptoPunk collections.
Furthermore, all these actions from the payment giant prove and show how Visa is enthusiastic with NFTs today. Visa’s decision to join the NFT space is not surprising at all. As the company grows and focuses and digital assets,
Visa is laying the groundwork to enable adoption of NFTs and other assets in the future.