Aimed to support entrepreneurs and artists who seek to integrate the NFT technology into their work and businesses, the American financial service corporation created the “Visa Creator Program”.
The one year-initiative will help guide artists who work in art, music, fashion, and film through the realm of NFT and its application within business structures. According to VISA’s statement, the market size of digital art surpasses $100 billion and “the creator economy is one of the fastest-growing categories of small business”. The Visa Creator Program will choose a group of artists and entrepreneurs who wish to broaden their knowledge of the new technology, learn how to use NFT platforms to grow businesses and generate income.
Cuy Sheffield, the head of the crypto department at VISA said: “NFTs have the potential to become a powerful accelerator for the creator economy.” The company has been extensively exploring the NFT universe and its prospects in the future of e-commerce and retail. “Through the Visa Creator Program, we want to help this new breed of small and micro businesses tap into new mediums for digital commerce,” Sheffield stated.
The program will gather a community of creators who will be mentored by Visa’s cryptocurrency experts and researchers. The selected candidates will have access both to the company’s network of partners and clients, and at the end of the program will be presented with further business opportunities. Calling it a “digital renaissance”, the program strives to help creators monetize their work and grow their businesses in new technology-driven ways.
It's worth noting that VISA is not at all new to NFTs. As part of its ongoing interest and analysis of the web3 market, Visa partnered with NFT artist Micah Johnson in October of last year. The former MLB player became part of the NFT world after retiring from a professional baseball career. Today Micah has a following of a thousand collectors who continue to buy his digital work. As a key collaborator, Micah took part in building the Visa Creator Program, making sure that it will be of great value and meaning to the next generation of digital artists.
Last year the company also purchased the CryptoPunk #7610 NFT for the price of 49.5 ETH (around $160,000), thus celebrating its entry into the era of NFT-commerce and establishing itself as a collector of digital artifacts.
