Despite being faced with a lot of financial turbulence recently, ETH is still showcasing monthly gains of 30%
Over the first half of 2021, global cumulative NFT sales are estimated to be worth more than AU $3.4+ billion.
Visa recently entered the NFT market by purchasing a crypto collectible worth AU $205,000.
Ethereum’s market dominance currently stands at 17.4%
After having showcased support around the AU $4,500 range for more than a week running, Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by total market capitalization, has continued to lose some of its momentum, dropping 4% of its value over the previous fortnight. At press time, ETH is trading at AU $4,350.
However, the ongoing sluggishness hasn’t prevented many prominent market analysts from providing a bullish outlook for the altcoin. For example, senior strategist for Bloomberg Intelligence, Mike McGlone, was recently quoted as saying that Ethereum could quite easily flip Bitcoin’s value in the coming few years, even going as far as suggesting that that the former could scale up to a price point of US $100k soon.
Furthermore, as pointed out by Finder earlier, Visa has continued to bolster its vision in regard to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), as was made evident again recently when the payments giant published a paper claiming NFTs to be an innovation that has continued to transform the global entertainment/media landscape over the last year or so.
To highlight just how big this market has become, during the first six months of 2021 alone, the NFT market registered AU $3.4 billion in sales. Not only that, even Visa recently announced that it purchased its first-ever NFT — ala CryptoPunk 7610 — for a sizable sum of AU $205,000. For those unaware, CryptoPunks are basically digital collectibles that are scarce in nature (10,000 in all) and are designed to be traded and stored on the Ethereum network.
Lastly, emerging statistical data shows that more than 2,500 CryptoPunks were sold for a combined sum of AU $640+ million over the last 30-day span — with CryptoPunk 7252 alone selling for a staggering 1,600 ETH (approximately AU $6.3 mil).
The NFT market is driving crypto adoption globally
There’s no denying that the previous few months have seen the use of NFTs grow in popularity across a host of different niches including music, visual art, films, real estate, etc. This is made evident by the fact that over August 2021 alone, NFT marketplace OpenSea facilitated sales in excess of US $900 million.
Lastly, it should be highlighted that Visa’s NFT market exploration only continues to grow, with the firm recently entering into a partnership with digital asset platform Zipmex, providing crypto enthusiasts across Asia with seamless access to a sophisticated crypto payment infrastructure.
Thus, it will be interesting to see if more and more mainstream financial entities continue to enter the crypto industry via the NFT route in the coming few months.
Interested in cryptocurrency? Learn more about the basics with our beginner’s guide to Bitcoin, dive deeper by learning about Ethereum and see what blockchain can do with our simple guide to DeFi.
Disclosure: The author owns a range of cryptocurrencies at the time of writing
Disclaimer:
This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of cryptocurrency or any specific provider,
service or offering. It is not a recommendation to trade. Cryptocurrencies are speculative, complex and
involve significant risks – they are highly volatile and sensitive to secondary activity. Performance
is unpredictable and past performance is no guarantee of future performance. Consider your own
circumstances, and obtain your own advice, before relying on this information. You should also verify
the nature of any product or service (including its legal status and relevant regulatory requirements)
and consult the relevant Regulators’ websites before making any decision. Finder, or the author, may
have holdings in the cryptocurrencies discussed.
Traduction de l’article de Shiraz Jagati : Article Original