Payments giant Visa this week lent the crypto ecosystem a vote of confidence by buying a non-fungible token (NFT) called CryptoPunk 7610. NFTs are digital assets that represent real-world creative objects – such as art, music, or in-game items – that are stored on a blockchain.

Why should we care?
Visa’s purchase of the CryptoPunk 7610 NFT has symbolic value and represents an acknowledgement of crypto’s move into the mainstream of the financial services business. Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of crypto, positioned it as having a “seat at the table” as the crypto economy grows. “By participating actively in this space, we gain deeper firsthand knowledge, ultimately allowing us to better support our customers as they enter the space,” he was quoted as saying. The company says it doesn’t think it will be the last incumbent player in financial services to lend support to NFTs. Of course, $150,000 is chump change compared to what some NFTs cost, with others selling for tens of millions of dollars. It would be naive to not consider that with the CryptoPunk 7610 buy, Visa got a powerful brand boost for a relatively minimal investment. Within hours of the announcement, Visa garnered 11,300 retweets and 21,000 likes. “Whoever is running the marketing team at Visa is probably basking in the sun of engagement,” one report said.