According to Visa’s head of crypto Cuy Sheffield, the reason most mainstream users are opening crypto wallets is NFTs. Sheffield said that investing in cryptocurrency has become a lot ‘cooler’ because of an inflow of creative types attracted by the NFT boom, CoinTelegraph wrote.
‘Waves’ of crypto wallets
He was speaking on the first day of the Singapore Fintech Festival, which was last Monday. In his opinion, there is a “whole new class” of mainstream users flocking to crypto and NFTs are attracting people with an interest in art, music, and culture. They are opening “crypto wallets in waves.” He said:
Crypto is becoming cultural, it’s becoming cool. It used to be that if you were investing in crypto, you were kind of weird.
The annual Singapore Fintech Festival, which will run until Friday, Nov.12, is organized by the NPO Eleandi and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). In 2021, the event focuses on the prospects of Web 3.0 tech. Mastercard, Microsoft, Tencent, Chainlink, and Celo AMTD Group are among the other notable guests.
Combining NFTs and entertainment
Visa’s exec believes blending NFT tech and the entertainment sectors could result in crypto wallets becoming a kind of super app, which can give users access to new content depending on their interests. This would be much better than just letting them hold digital assets.
The head of crypto at the global financial giant has always been excited by NFTs. He propelled the corporation’s move to buy CryptoPunk 7610 for 49.50 Ether (ETH) in August. Back then, he said the move had been part of a push to gain first-hand understanding of the infrastructure needs a global brand must fulfill to buy, store, and leverage an NFT, adding:
The ability to track and leverage a digital asset in multiple environments could mean exciting new opportunities in ticketing, gaming music, art, and beyond.
Ravi Menon, Managing Director of MAS, drew attention to the importance of tech in relation to digital music and art, patents and other intangible assets, and commodities such as real estate:
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.
Menon also said that smart contracts and the tokenization of intellectual property and real world objects were the “key enablers” of Web 3.0.
