Visa purchases CryptoPunk for $150,000; Joins NFT frenzy

Cuy Sheffield, head of the crypto at Visa, on August 23 said CryptoPunks have “quickly become a cultural icon for the crypto community”.

Visa has joined the NFT frenzy, after purchasing a “CryptoPunk” for nearly $150,000 in ethereum. CryptoPunks are a set of 10,000 pixel-art images, with each being a uniquely generated character, made by Larva Labs in 2017. Digital asset platform Anchorage helped Visa acquire Crypto punk 7610.

Cuy Sheffield, head of the crypto at Visa, on August 23 said CryptoPunks have “quickly become a cultural icon for the crypto community”.

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“We think NFTs will play an important role in the future of retail, social media, entertainment, and commerce. To help our clients and partners participate, we need a firsthand understanding of the infrastructure requirements for a global brand to purchase, store, and leverage an NFT,” Sheffield, said in a blogpost. “This is just the beginning of our work in this space,” he said.

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique digital assets that cannot be easily exchanged. They are often likened to physical collectable items such as paintings. Many companies have been dipping their feet into NFTs. In March, Christie sold an image created by the digital artist Beeple sold for $69 million.

A digital version of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s first tweet was sold for $2.9 million on March 22. CNBC reported that many media organisations such as CNN, The New York Times, and Fortune magazine, have sold NFTs of their own.