Global payment processor Visa reported that it has acquired CryptoPunk # 7610 – a female punk to add to its historical collection on Aug 23. The addition cements the mainstream adoption of NFTs as a commerce tool and Ethereum as the base NFT blockchain. It also signifies that Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have now crossed the Overton Window, made their existence known, and are fast gaining societal approval. The actual sale was made on Aug 18 at a price of 49.5 ETH or roughly $150,000 at that time.
Over the last 60 years, Visa has built a collection of historic commerce artifacts – from early paper credit cards to the zip-zap machine. Today, as we enter a new era of NFT-commerce, Visa welcomes CryptoPunk #7610 to our collection. https://t.co/XoPFfwxUiu
Visa acquired CryptoPunk# 7610 is a female punk featuring clown green eyes, Mohawk hair, and hot lipstick. It’s one of the 3840 female punks, out of a total of 10,000. Though it doesn’t rank much higher in the rarity and trait counts, it’s nevertheless a unique punk that scores in the 7200 rarity rank, according to Rarity Tool. Its acquisition by Visa opens the door for other corporations and entities to buy/hold NFTs as a status symbol, representative of certain events and for their historical significance.
Surprisingly, the global payment processor Visa has a well defined crypto and NFT strategy, considering them an essential part of future commerce and pledging to help their clients navigate this nascent space. Visa believes that NFTs will become a powerful part of the creator’s economy and lower barriers of entry for new artists. They also feel that it would help small and medium-sized businesses flourish. As always, the payment processor wants to take a lead role in ensuring safe and secure commerce. Visa’s Head of Crypto Cuy Sheffield remarked the following:
8/ Acquiring CryptoPunk #7610 was an opportunity for us to work with our partner @Anchorage to understand first-hand what it takes to purchase, custody, and interact with an NFT so that we are better positioned to help our clients navigate this emerging ecosystem.
About CryptoPunk
What to say of the iconic and uber-expensive Larva Labs developed CryptoPunks? CryptoPunks is a collection of wildly popular 10,000 unique 24x 24 8-bit images, divided into 5 types. These are Alien, Ape, Zombie, Male, and Female. They deployed on 22 June 2017.
Each of them has a unique personality and randomly generated features. Some of them are of course rarer than the others and fetch a premium. CryptoPunks are routinely sold for millions. The highest recorded sale of 4,200 ETH or over 7.5 million dollars for #3100.
