Visa is entering the market of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with the purchase of CryptoPunk 7610, a collection of art from various creators.
CryptoPunk is considered one of the original NFTs and was started in 2017 by Larva Labs. It includes 10,000 pixel art image tokens that live on the Ethereum blockchain.
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“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,” Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s crypto head, told The Block.
Sheffield also commented on the significance of CryptoPunks, saying it “pioneered the NFT technology and wave of NFT commerce.”
Anchorage Digital worked with Visa to facilitate the transaction. They partnered together earlier this year to settle payments on Ethereum in the USDC stablecoin.
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Visa envisions a future where small businesses can harness a public blockchain to find new ways to sell and create their goods and services. However, the company also understands that this new commerce system can be tricky to get started in and navigate. Because of this, they have published a whitepaper on NFTs to help businesses understand how they can become integrated into their work.
“We can envision a future where a crypto address becomes as important as your mailing address,” Sheffield continues. “So now we’re committing to starting to help clients navigate ways that they can participate in the NFT commerce ecosystem.”
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CryptoPunk’s founder, Larva Labs, made a name with a variety of other creative technological adventures. Among other things, they have created the largest open-source repository of legal documents, an Android app called AppChat that lets you open a chat room on any app and a motion-tracking dance booth on a beach in France.
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