Live data from Hacker News

Visa Buys CryptoPunk #7610

twitter.com

31–40 of 138 posts

Re: Visa Buys CryptoPunk #7610

#31

I find their explanation so strange… they are adding it to their “collection of historic commerce artifacts”? Do they run a financial network or a museum? If I were a shareholder, I would not be happy with this move.

Lots of companies seem to spend money on non-business related things, so there seem to be some provisions for that in the usual shareholder agreements? Many art exhibitions seem to be sponsored by financial institutions, for example.

It's a form of marketing/advertising.

Re: Visa Buys CryptoPunk #7610

#32
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s called brand marketing. Here we are talking about it.

Who is their target market exactly? IME (at least in Europe) you get either Visa or Mastercard depending on what your bank uses, and I don't think there are any differences.

Two tweets down, they posted:

> Curious about NFTs and how to integrate them in your brand strategy?

And then there's a link taking you to a page called:

> NTFs: Engaging Today’s Fans in Crypto and Commerce

Re: Visa Buys CryptoPunk #7610

#33
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems strange to state in one paragraph both that (a) art can have value simply because it represents a point in art history and that (b) NFTs can't hold value as long as they're digital-only. Because, there's nothing about being digital-only which makes it so that they cannot represent a point in art history.

Would you go to Louvre to see Mona Lisa if you have an atom-by-atom identical copy at home? How much would you pay for the original? What is "original" in this case? Which ship of Theseus is the original one? I don't say, as art, some NFTs are not pretty. I just say they don't represent the same value (for me) as some people think. A CryptoPunk does not have a physical representation, so the one you and I see on our…

Should check out the currency by Damien hirst. He made a “real” piece of art and a correspondent nft. One of which has to be destroyed at a certain time. I believe most will destroy the physical version. https://www.heni.com/

Re: Visa Buys CryptoPunk #7610

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only is this a small sum of money for Visa to throw away, this is a small sum of money for an NFT collector to throw away. To me most criticism of NFTs is reminiscent of criticisms of modern art. Very few understand the scope of what "non fungible token" means. There are PLENTY of use-cases for a publicly verifiable token issued by a 3rd party and owned by you, other than art, if you just use a little imagination…

Mind sharing just one?

Money laundering.

Re: Visa Buys CryptoPunk #7610

#35
post #15

Well, congratulations to those NFT scammers, it finally paid off. They got their Whale. The entire game of pumping up NFTs to try and pass them off as a useful tool that'll see widespread adoption has finally paid out. This is a small sum of money for Visa to throw away, but this creates a fantastic permission structure for unsophisticated investors to throw away their life savings on a set of worthless e-certificate…

how is a NFT any more arbitrary than a hallmark card?

both are "artistic" to a certain degree, completely useless after the purchase and initial exchange.

Re: Visa Buys CryptoPunk #7610

#36

I find their explanation so strange… they are adding it to their “collection of historic commerce artifacts”? Do they run a financial network or a museum? If I were a shareholder, I would not be happy with this move.

I think it's pretty common for major companies to have an archive of industry milestones (like the Honda Collection Hall). Plus what they paid for this NFT is probably cheap for the PR they get in return, positioning them as a hip crypto player instead of a stogy old payment processing company.

Re: Visa Buys CryptoPunk #7610

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m genuinely agnostic on your question, either of those possibilities strike me as roughly equally plausible.

Also, many of those debating and getting their toes wet in crypto are not necessarily predicting it will work, they’re just hedging their bets in case it does. For example I’ve got about 3% of my Investible wealth in crypto. If it tanks to zero I wouldn’t consider myself “wrong”. Crypto skepticism is still a fairly mainstream position, it’s not unique to HN.

I’m convinced that crypto will crash and burn, yet I put some money on it because I’m also skeptical of market efficiency and do believe there’s a lot of money to be made in “bad” ideas. I don’t know how mainstream my position is, but I do know a few people who share it.

Re: Visa Buys CryptoPunk #7610

#38
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems strange to state in one paragraph both that (a) art can have value simply because it represents a point in art history and that (b) NFTs can't hold value as long as they're digital-only. Because, there's nothing about being digital-only which makes it so that they cannot represent a point in art history.

Would you go to Louvre to see Mona Lisa if you have an atom-by-atom identical copy at home? How much would you pay for the original? What is "original" in this case? Which ship of Theseus is the original one? I don't say, as art, some NFTs are not pretty. I just say they don't represent the same value (for me) as some people think. A CryptoPunk does not have a physical representation, so the one you and I see on our…

>Would you go to Louvre to see Mona Lisa if you have an atom-by-atom identical copy at home? How much would you pay for the original? What is "original" in this case? Which ship of Theseus is the original one?

I am certain that if there was a perfect replica of the Mona Lisa, the original would retain most of its value. I don't really understand why this is the case, but I do understand that it is the case.

Re: Visa Buys CryptoPunk #7610

#39
post #19
post #15

Well, congratulations to those NFT scammers, it finally paid off. They got their Whale. The entire game of pumping up NFTs to try and pass them off as a useful tool that'll see widespread adoption has finally paid out. This is a small sum of money for Visa to throw away, but this creates a fantastic permission structure for unsophisticated investors to throw away their life savings on a set of worthless e-certificate…

Bitcoin crossed 50k (again), US senators are debating cryptocurrency regulation as part of historical legislation, and major global companies like Visa are making moves in the space. Is it possible the HN decade-long dismissal of crypto and blockchain has been totally wrong? Or is HN just a tiny minority of people who are simply smarter and wiser than the US government, Fortune 100 corporations, and hundreds of milli…

Does this question presuppose that the US govt, fortune 100 etc, are institutions that can reach a level of intelligence and insight that roaming individuals can't? That's some faith in collective action, if so.

Re: Visa Buys CryptoPunk #7610

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only is this a small sum of money for Visa to throw away, this is a small sum of money for an NFT collector to throw away. To me most criticism of NFTs is reminiscent of criticisms of modern art. Very few understand the scope of what "non fungible token" means. There are PLENTY of use-cases for a publicly verifiable token issued by a 3rd party and owned by you, other than art, if you just use a little imagination…

We already have (digital) ownership that can be publically verified.

And traded permissionlessly? I don't think so..
Post reply on HN