collectibles – CoinGraph IQ

AMC Entertainment, the company that operates the AMC Theaters chain, has entered the NFT (Non-Fungible Token) market. In a collaboration with Sony Pictures, they will be giving away 86,000 NFTs for the December 16 release of the movie “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” This giveaway is open to members of AMC Stubs Premiere, AMC Stubs A-List and AMC Investor Connect with advance purchase of tickets.

According to AMC CEO Adam Aron (via Twitter):

“This idea came from YOU! Partnering with @SonyPictures for #AMCFirstEverNFT. More than 100 unique Spider-Man NFTs, given FREE to the first 86,000 online buyers of U.S. AMC December 16 tickets for Spider-Man No Way Home. Only for Stubs Premiere, A-List & Investor Connect members.”

— Adam Aron (@CEOAdam) November 28, 2021

This is not the first time AMC has ventured into cryptocurrency. They are already accepting payments in cryptocurrency like Bitcoin (BTC) for movie tickets. NFTs are like the next step in their journey to the blockchain and metaverse. Spider-Man is a popular Marvel Comics superhero, so an NFT would be a valuable digital collectible. This has future value for trading in the NFT marketplace among collectors. The NFT will be minted on the WAX blockchain.

This is probably part of AMCs strategy to catch up to the trends among millennials and Gen Zers. Crypto is popular among the younger generation and this is a better way to promote your brand. AMC needs to rebound after the pandemic lockdowns, so this is also a way to entice moviegoers to return to theaters with some added benefits to go along with the soda and pop-corn.

VISA has announced the purchase of a CryptoPunk NFT (Non-Fungible Token) worth approximately $165,000 (~50 ETH this August 18, 2021). Perhaps the most unlikely thing you would expect VISA (the financial credit company) to invest in. VISA is apparently bullish on NFTs, or could this just be another signal to show they are “in the know” or “part of the gang”? CryptoPunk NFTs are original digital artwork made by Larva Labs. These are unique collectible characters that have verified ownership on the Ethereum blockchain. They are not physical objects at all, but purely digital. They look just like icons or emojis, not at all like the works of art you would see in a gallery.

This shows that VISA is getting in on the DeFi (Decentralized Finance) market with NFTs. According to their recent tweet:

“Over the last 60 years, Visa has built a collection of historic commerce artefacts—from early paper credit cards to the zip-zap machine. Today, as we enter a new era of NFT-commerce, Visa welcomes CryptoPunk #7610 to our collection”

NFTs like CryptoPunks, despite looking like mediocre art, hold plenty of value. A typical CryptoPunk can bid over $20,000 while the more in demand will bid in the millions of dollars. That shows that there is a big market for these collectibles and the buyers have plenty of money to spend. This is not your basic retail market where items cost a few dollars. This is a big money market, and it has attracted VISA’s attention.

What makes CryptoPunks desirable as a collectible is their uniqueness. A CryptoPunk character (i.e. Punks) is algorithmically generated by computer, not manually created by a human artist. There are also different types like Apes, Zombies and Aliens. Each CryptoPunk character has their own set of attributes and their metadata are recorded on the Ethereum blockchain. That also includes the proof of ownership to the holder of the NFT.

It seems like VISA will hold this NFT for the collection purposes. It will hold the CryptoPunk for historical records, perhaps to document a time when NFTs first emerged. This will surely be valuable in the future, whether NFT continue to become successful or not. Just owning a piece of history is valuable in itself, so VISA is going to look back on this as having a memento to that timeline. Overall the NFT market continues to grow. According to Forbes, the NFT market grew 1,785% In 2021. It is now the fastest growing sector in DeFi that is also gaining pop culture adoption and VISA is jumping on board.

Moving forward, it looks like VISA is also on the horizon ready to enter new partnerships and projects related to NFTs. As a payment processor, VISA can help bridge the traditional finance market with the DeFi space. That opens a world of opportunities for buyers, sellers and developers.