Visa Launches Creator Program To Educate Artists On NFTs

Payments technology firm Visa has unveiled the latest in its strategies for crypto with its Creator Program, in which a select number of small business owners will be supported through non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Visa's Creator Program will run as a one-year immersion program that would foster a "global cohort of creators" who are looking into NFTs as a viable business strategy. Creators from fields such as art, music, fashion, and film, among other areas of creative production, will be helped out to "tap into new mediums for digital commerce." Among the first Creator Program participants is former Major League Baseball second baseman Micah Johnson, who launched Aku in 2021, his first NFT character.

"In the early days of my NFT career, I relied on a community of NFT experts and advocates to ground me in this new world. I’m excited to work with Visa in providing that same type of mentorship to emerging artists setting out on their NFT journey," shares Johnson.

According to Visa, the program will select participants who are "serious about incorporating NFTs into their business model" and would help deepen their knowledge about crypto commerce and traditional payments.

"NFTs have the potential to become a powerful accelerator for the creator economy. We’ve been studying the NFT ecosystem and its potential impacts on the future of commerce, retail and social media. Through the Visa Creator Program, we want to help this new breed of small and micro businesses tap into new mediums for digital commerce," shares Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto at Visa.

This program will provide participating creators with technical and product mentorship, community building, access to thought leaders, exposure to Visa’s clients and partners, as well as a one-time stipend to help kick-start the creators' aspirations. Visa touts the $100 billion estimated size of the creator economy as a main reason as to why the program was launched.

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