Visa Builds NFT Program To Support Digital Creators

Visa is launching a program to support artists who want to use non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to sell their work. According to an announcement on Visa’s website, the financial services giant is partnering with former Major League Baseball player turned NFT artist Micah Johnson to help creators understand NFTs. And also “how to harness public blockchains for producing and selling digital goods.”

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This program is not Visa’s first venture into the NFT space. Almost two months ago, the company entered the Metaverse with its first NFT purchase. Visa acquired Cryptopunk NFT – one of the 10,000 unique collectible characters with proof of ownership stored on the Ethereum blockchain- for $150K. This purchase was basically its first step into the world of virtual experiences, digital assets, and avatars.

The Visa NFT Program

“Art has the power to inspire and unite — inviting us all to dream and experience the world together.”
On Wednesday, Visa launched its new NFT program with Micah Johnson. Together, they want to help creators and small businesses to understand how to use NFTs to create and sell their digital works.
Head of Crypto at Visa Cuy Sheffield also tweeted the announcement.

2/ We believe that we are at the beginning of a digital renaissance in the world of art and content creation — a flourishing ecosystem of artists, musicians, writers, photographers, and curators building communities at the intersection of culture and commerce.

— Cuy Sheffield (@cuysheffield) October 13, 2021

Visa will conduct an open application process and select a group of creators to make up the maiden class. The company says it will also sponsor the group and provide consulting services during the period. In addition, the creators will benefit from network opportunities with Visa’s payment partners to help them reach new audiences.

Micah’s contribution would be to ensure that the program provides meaningful value to the next generation of creators. “I’m excited about the opportunity to work alongside and learn from a trusted brand like Visa,” says Micah. “Working together, we want to arm creators with the resources they need to stay at the forefront of this revolution.”

Micah Johnson And NFTs

Artist Micah Johnson began releasing NFTs in January 2020. When he retired from professional baseball in 2018, he started learning about crypto and NFTs in 2019.

In February of 2021, he released Aku, an animated confident black astronaut character. “Aku’s message became a viral sensation and also the first NFT ever optioned to become a major feature film,” according to Time.

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According to Micah, “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. With guidance from the early crypto community, I’ve been able to build a small business around my crypto-native character, Aku, that can grow into a global media company rooted in driving value back to that same community that evangelized my work.”

Featured image by Forbes