Visa Buys a CryptoPunk As It Takes First Steps Into 'NFT Commerce' (theblockcrypto.com) 17
Payments technology company Visa announced Monday that it has bought a CryptoPunk as it enters into the world of non-fungible token (NFT) commerce. The Block reports: Visa bought CryptoPunk 7610, one of 3,840 female punks, for around $150,000 last week. CryptoPunks are considered the original NFTs, launched in 2017 by Larva Labs. These are a collection of 10,000 pixel art images of misfits and eccentrics. Each CryptoPunk has its own personality and unique combination of features. "We felt that CryptoPunks would be a great addition to our collection of artifacts that can chart and celebrate the past, present, and future of commerce," Visa's head of crypto, Cuy Sheffield, told The Block in an interview.
When asked why Visa added a CryptoPunk to the collection, Sheffield said CryptoPunks "pioneered the NFT technology and wave of NFT commerce," so Visa wanted to own a punk. He said the decision was less about the individual punk but more about CryptoPunks in general, given that it is a historical NFT project. Visa worked with Anchorage Digital to buy the CryptoPunk, meaning Anchorage facilitated the transaction and is custodying the NFT for Visa, said Sheffield. "We purchased it from Anchorage using fiat," he said. Visa first partnered with Anchorage earlier this year to settle payments in the USDC stablecoin on Ethereum.
Visa believes NFTs will play an important role in the future of commerce. NFTs can help individual content creators and small and medium-sized businesses in new ways, said Sheffield. "NFTs are an intersection of culture and commerce," he added. Sheffield compared NFTs with the early days of e-commerce, saying that e-commerce made it possible for a small business to sell online and reach customers worldwide. But they still have to produce and ship physical goods, which can have high upfront costs. So NFTs allow a small business to harness a public blockchain to create digital goods, which can be delivered instantly to a crypto wallet anywhere in the world, said Sheffield. "We can envision a future where a crypto address becomes as important as your mailing address," he said.
When asked why Visa added a CryptoPunk to the collection, Sheffield said CryptoPunks "pioneered the NFT technology and wave of NFT commerce," so Visa wanted to own a punk. He said the decision was less about the individual punk but more about CryptoPunks in general, given that it is a historical NFT project. Visa worked with Anchorage Digital to buy the CryptoPunk, meaning Anchorage facilitated the transaction and is custodying the NFT for Visa, said Sheffield. "We purchased it from Anchorage using fiat," he said. Visa first partnered with Anchorage earlier this year to settle payments in the USDC stablecoin on Ethereum.
Visa believes NFTs will play an important role in the future of commerce. NFTs can help individual content creators and small and medium-sized businesses in new ways, said Sheffield. "NFTs are an intersection of culture and commerce," he added. Sheffield compared NFTs with the early days of e-commerce, saying that e-commerce made it possible for a small business to sell online and reach customers worldwide. But they still have to produce and ship physical goods, which can have high upfront costs. So NFTs allow a small business to harness a public blockchain to create digital goods, which can be delivered instantly to a crypto wallet anywhere in the world, said Sheffield. "We can envision a future where a crypto address becomes as important as your mailing address," he said.
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How can I buy an NFT of each first post?
We can envision a future where a crypto address be (Score:1)
And this is where Visa and the government wants to end up, and hence the recent legislation from US Congress and China to force association between crypto addresses and individuals; you should be inextricably associated with your individual crypto address, basically a global SSN, then we can permanently record facts about you in the blockchain, choices such as your vaccine status, your gender, your political activities, a history of your social viability score.
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There's an article in the newest issue of Time about some governments (particularly China) and their forays in this area. The technical details are, of course, muddled - they draw a distinction between "cryptocurrencies" and "digital currencies" (eg. China's Digital Yuan), but also suggest that "digital currencies" are based on blockchain. (Whether that's an honest mistake describing technically complex ideas, or there's some other motive for this self-inconsistent distinction, is interesting to ponder.)
Lin
NFTs VS e-commerce (Score:4, Insightful)
Sheffield compared NFTs with the early days of e-commerce
E-commerce was obviously a good idea in its early days.
Where there's a market, there will be a merchant (Score:3)
Honestly? Good for Visa for cashing out on these idiots.
I have it too (Score:3)
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So (Score:4, Funny)
Visa bought CryptoPunk 7610, one of 3,840 female punks, for around $150,000 last week.
So this is one of the many things my Visa fees pay for.
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That's almost $1000 per pixel! (Score:2)
I find myself having to ask... (Score:2)