The non-fungible token (NFT) space has experienced tremendous growth over the past few months
Leading payment company Visa has acquired a non-fungible token (NFT) for $150,000, making it one of the first corporate entities to do so. The company said it believes NFTs will play a huge role in the future.
Visa bought the CryptoPunk 7610 for $150,000, with the company making its first entry into the NFT world. In a blog post yesterday, Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s crypto head, stated that “We think NFTs will play an important role in the future of retail, social media, entertainment, and commerce.”
Sheffield said for Visa to enable its clients and partners to enter the NFT space, the company needed to have a firsthand understanding of the infrastructure requirements for a global brand to buy, store and use an NFT.
“With our CryptoPunk purchase, we’re jumping in feet first. This is just the beginning of our work in this space,” he added. CryptoPunks are Ethereum-based digital art pieces created by Larva Labs Studio.
NFTs differ from the other tokens in the cryptocurrency space because they can’t be exchanged like for like, something that is possible with regular cryptocurrencies. This makes each NFT unique and rare.
The last few months have been exceptional for the NFT market. Several companies and leading figures have entered the space. NFTs make it possible for creatives and celebrities to launch digital pieces and earn money from them. We have seen artists, musicians, athletes and media companies launch and sell a wide range of NFTs over the past few months.
The NFT by popular digital artist Beeple remains the most expensive to date. It was sold for roughly $70 million by leading auction house Christie’s. The growth of the NFT sector is highlighted by OpenSea recently reaching a monthly trading volume of $1 billion.
The non-fungible token space is still in its early days, and it could experience further growth over the coming years.