Visa'southward splash into the NFT market was driven by an evaluation of the underlying engineering and its power to serve as a "promising medium for fan engagement," co-ordinate to a recent whitepaper published by the global payments giant.

The Aug. 23 publication described nonfungible tokens as an of import innovation during the pandemic, where strict shelter-in-place orders limited live sports, entertainment and music festivals. At the aforementioned fourth dimension, NFTs are emerging at a time when fans are eager to bring together digital communities centered around their favorite artists or sports teams.

Professional sports were hit particularly hard past the pandemic, with an estimated $18 billion in lost acquirement beyond major leagues worldwide. According to Visa, this farther drives the "need to diversify acquirement and focus on applied science to reposition businesses for growth opportunities and to capture the attention of fans."

In this sense, "NFTs appeal to collectors, fans, teams, leagues, and talent," the report said. In item, NFTs tin get main sources of fan engagement, client relationship management and newer revenue streams. The main NFT apply cases identified were collectibles, art and gaming.

The whitepaper was released alongside an announcement from Visa that information technology had purchased its outset NFT — CryptoPunk 7610 — for $150,000. CryptoPunks is a collection of 10,000 unique NFTs with proof of ownership stored on the Ethereum network. A total of 2,519 CryptoPunk collectibles were sold in the past 30 days, netting a combined $467.4 million, according to industry sources. Over that menses, the highest-grossing auction was CryptoPunk 7252, which sold for 1,600 ETH, or $4.5 million.

Related: Visa invests $150,000 in NFT CryptoPunk nugget

Across the CryptoPunk craze, NFTs in other niches are also growing in popularity. As Cointelegraph recently reported, full NFT sales are probable to exceed $900 1000000 in August alone, marking a new tape for the industry. The previous record was fix in May when total sales volume for NFTs reached $255 million. May was when crypto markets reached new all-fourth dimension highs before experiencing a multi-calendar month correction.

Visa'south foray into NFTs is hardly surprising, given the payment visitor's growing focus on digital assets. The company recently entered into an agreement with digital asset platform Zipmex, providing farther crypto payment integration in the Asia-Pacific region. In Jan of this year, Visa reaffirmed its commitment to edifice cryptocurrency payment and fiat on-ramps in a bid to back up the digital asset course.