Cuy Sheffield, the head of the crypto department at Visa, has said that investing in cryptos has become quite cooler than how it was in the past. According to the executive, the growing appeal in cryptos has been caused by an influx of creative types of tokens that are brought in by the thriving nonfungible token (NFTs) industry.
Sheffield spoke on the first day of the Singapore Fintech Festival on November 8. He believes that many mainstream users are creating “crypto wallets in waves” to join the now lucrative NFT industry.
According to him, a “whole new class” of mainstream users are rushing to the crypto space. NFTs seem to be attracting people with a wide range of interests like art, music, and culture who are now “setting up crypto wallets in waves.” Sheffield highlighted:
Crypto is becoming cultural, it’s becoming cool. It used to be that if you were investing in crypto, you were kind of weird.”
He says that blending the entertainment industries with NFT technology might see most crypto wallets become some form of ‘super app’. From these apps, users can discover new content that is related to their interests as opposed to just a means of holding digital assets.
Visa’s head of cryptocurrency is a self-proclaimed NFT-enthusiast. He is credited for spearheading the company’s move to snap up CryptoPunk 7610; that is a female figure with a mohawk, clown green eyes, and lipstick. CryptoPunk 7610 was acquired for 49.50 Ether (ETH) in August 2021.
At the time, Sheffield said that this move was a part of a push to:
gain a first-hand understanding of the infrastructure requirements for a global brand to purchase, store, and leverage an NFT.”
He also stated that the company was aiming to offer services tied to NFTs. The executive added:
The ability to track and leverage a digital asset in multiple environments could mean exciting new opportunities in ticketing, gaming music, art, and beyond.”
The annual event runs until November 12, 2021, and is organized by non-profit organizations Eleandi and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This year’s event focuses on the prospects of Web 3.0 tech and consists of notable guests like Chainlink, Celo AMTD Group, Tencent, Visa, Mastercard, Microsoft, and Ant Group.
The Managing Director of MAS, Ravi Menon, also gave a lengthy speech at the event. He said that smart contracts and the tokenization of real-world objects and intellectual property are the main enablers of the new Web 3.0 paradigm.
Menon insisted on the importance of technology concerning different commodities like real estate. This technology is also important for intangible assets like patents, digital music, and art:
Once tokenized, rights and ownership of these assets could be transferred seamlessly, improving liquidity and efficiency. This has the potential to substantially enhance economic opportunity and inclusion.”
Visa Wants Artists To Invest In NFTs
In early October, Visa announced it will launch a detailed program that will introduce artists to the booming world of NFTs. The firm partnered with former MLB player Micah Johnson. Johnson is now a digital artist and he is working with Visa to show the advantages that come with non-fungible token (NFT) technology.
This technology is seen to create new markets for art creations and concurrently minimizes the gap between consumers and the art creators. One creator of Aku, an NFT based character, Micah, leveraged NFTs as a means of offering life to a community around its creation. According to Johnson, here is what the NFT world offers:
NFTs unlocked an opportunity for me to build a community of people interested in supporting my work — in a way that goes way beyond simply liking or sharing.”
Visa is currently sponsoring a small group of creators led by Johnson to teach these artists to use blockchain-based tools to produce and then sell digital goods. The firm will also counsel the artists to learn how to use traditional and digital payment methods aimed to monetize their work.
