NFTs have made crypto attractive, Visa exec says

• Cuy Sheffield says it is no longer weird to be a crypto investor

• Demand for NFTs has pushed mainstream consumers into cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is “cool” to a growing number of mainstream investors because of the growth seen within the non-fungible token (NFT) sector, Visa executive Cuy Sheffield has said.

Sheffield, the head of crypto at the global financial services company, said this during an appearance at the Singapore Fintech Festival.

According to him, a “whole new class” of investors from the mainstream sector has begun looking at cryptocurrencies thanks to a boom in NFTs.He noted that before, non-fungible tokens piqued the interest of people in sectors such as art, music, and culture. Cryptocurrency, in general, mainly attracted investors in the finance sector, he added.

However, the massive interest around NFTs has seen so many from other sectors flock into crypto. The shift has seen investors keen on profiting from crypto tokens set up “crypto wallets in waves.”

 “Crypto is becoming cultural, it’s becoming cool. It used to be that if you were investing in crypto, you were kind of weird,” Sheffield said.

Sheffield believes consumers in the US have increasingly allocated funds to crypto-assets.

Crypto is making the financial lives and activities of mainstream consumers both more fun and more complicated

— Cuy Sheffield (@cuysheffield) November 6, 2021

The Visa exec says increased adoption and allocations to crypto, as well as the new use in the NFT space, has made the crypto wallet a “super app.” The wallet is now the place where consumers across the market can discover and access a whole range of content- from music to rare art.

Sheffield played a key role in Visa’s recent splash in NFTs when it purchased the CryptoPunk 7610 for $150,000 (about 49.50 ETH at the time). The move allowed Visa to get exposure to the sector, especially regarding how to store and leverage an NFT asset.