Visa To Bolster NFT Adoption With New 'Creator Program'

Payment behemoth Visa Inc. V launched a new product strategy and mentorship program for entrepreneurs working in the art, music, fashion and film spaces that would help accelerate the growth of their businesses through non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

What Happened: In its Wednesday announcement, the firm explained that its "Visa Creator Program" is looking to help a selected group of entrepreneurs deepen their understanding of technology and the platforms underlying NFT commerce in one-year cycles.

Cuy Sheffield, Visa's head of crypto, said in a statement that “NFTs have the potential to become a powerful accelerator for the creator economy.” He explained that the program aims to help the "new breed of small and micro businesses tap into new mediums for digital commerce.”

Visa's program — first announced in mid-October 2021 — helped former professional baseball player turned visual artist Micah Johnson launch his Aku World NFT community featuring a young black astronaut. Aku now will star in a movie, and was the first NFT art piece to digitally travel to the International Space Station.

NFT data service CryptoArt shows that, as of press time, Johnson sold 8,835 non-fungible tokens for a total value of $21,004,225 — or 6,152 Ethereum ETH/USD. The most expensive of his NFTs is "ˈSÄ-V(Ə-)RƏN-TĒ" and was sold at the Async Art gallery in mid-November 2020 for well over $850,000.

Johnson explained that at the beginning of his NFT career, he "relied on a community of NFT experts and advocates," and now he is one of the Visa program's mentors.