Cuy Sheffield is the head of Crypto at Visa, who has also worked at Trial Pay and is now responsible for managing Visa’s Crypto related initiatives.
Today, we are here to see his views and thoughts on the Black Art Movement and Visa’s Crypto Role in 2030, and much more.
HOW WERE YOU INTRODUCED TO BITCOIN AND CRYPTO CURRENCY?
He had started in the Crypto Currency game during his college while he was doing his sociology majors. During his study, he realised that Bitcoin is the sociology of Money. Therefore, in order to understand what Bitcoin is, he first had to understand what money was. Everyone wants to know what money is and that Bitcoin is the concept of what money is and that is the light bulb.
He says – “I was very fortunate that we had a number of friends who kind of went through the rabbit holes together. We all worked together and it’s been awesome having a group to work with.“.
BLACK ART NFT MOVEMENT
There was a big discussion on the YouTube channel of CoinDesk.com, where one the staff was interviewing Cuy. As he says that NFT’s are absolutely amazing, as Crypto started way back as a new asset, new form of money and now with the introduction of NFT’s people are able to create new assets that were not assets before.
Meaning that, in todays time, we are now able to convert any form of Original Artwork, Music, Trading Card, or any thing into a unique asset that cannot be replaced or replicated. It’s like you own a legit thing that only you as a person own, while nobody can steal the asset from you as it completely becomes yours.
Further he says that ” Back then, as we know, Digital Art was extremely difficult to collect and sell.“
As back then, any person can steal your artwork, address it as his own illegally until he gets caught. There was no legit or proper way of finding the right owner. But NFT’s have completely changed that.
“As now with NFT’s we have talented artists that can Tokenise their art and reach the global collector base.” – Cuy
“Now Black creators can create and take part in the Global Internet Culture with NFT’s being the way to monetise their Art. It’s really exciting to meet fellow talented black artists and see their art and it’s sort of like we’re seeing a movement being developed where there is a Black Crypto Art Movement building on top of these new technologies.” – Cuy
VISA WITH NEO BANK WORKING ON GETTING CRYPTO FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY
What are some of the tools that Visa is providing to support the black community?
During his work term at Visa, he was introduced to First Boulevard who was a client of his company and he got in touch with its co-founder and CEO Donald Hawkins. First Boulevard is a fintech startup that aims to address the generational wealth gap for Black Americans. – Crunchbase.com. When they first came to the company, they didn’t just come to Visa to inquire about issuing cards, but what Donald really wanted was how VISA can help the Black community build wealth.
As they realised that Bitcoin was one of the most important assets in the Crypto-Currency industry and Donald wanted Bitcoin to be made available and accessible to the Black communities. With this goal in mind, Cuy from VISA and Donald planned on working on a product, service that could easily make Bitcoin become easily accessible to the Black Communities.
Additionally, VISA is also working on financial education as Cuy says, that it is not enough or possible just to introduce an asset to someone and somehow expect the community to understand it right away and use it. He believes that financial education and literacy play a big part in the introduction of these services and products to the black community. Further, financial concepts will become a gateway to financial literacy and people will need to know how Crypto works.
WILL VISA SUPPORT BLOCKCHAIN GROUPS WITH FUNDING, EDUCATION, AND RESOURCES?
Cuy says that he and the company are extremely excited to find ways that can help and support and encourage other companies across the crypto industry. Really looking forward to all the talents that are coming out from the Crypto industry and create bridges and paths to help the community excel.
WHAT IS YOUR VISION OF CRYPTO IN 2030 AND HOW WILL VISA BE INVOLVED?
“I think in Crypto times, 10 years is something you cant even comprehend. I think in general, we’re seeing this convergence where the lives between Fintech, Banking and Crypto are all starting to blur. Crypto Companies that have just started as exchanges to buy and sell crypto are now looking to come out with payment products. As we know, the issue with Debit cards. Then on the other side, we’re seeing Banks and Financial institutions that you know have been providing payment products that have started looking into supporting Crypto within their platform.” – Cuy Sheffield
He says that Visa’s role in the Crypto Currency Industry, Visa will act as a bridge and VISA has been around for 60 years and it was built on the foundation of electronic movement of money.
As of now we are seeing new forms of money come into existence with the evolution of Crypto. It is important for VISA to evolve its products and services with the evolution of crypto currency.
HOW MUCH BITCOIN DO YOU OWN?
Although, in the interview, Cuy denied revealing his bitcoin holdings which we were all very curious about as he is the one of the most important person in the Crypto Currency market. Specifically due to personal reasons but what he did suggest that we should invest in learning and basically understanding what Bitcoin is and how to use the Crypto Products.
He says that just by holding $5 dollars worth of Bitcoin, one can experience what it feels like investing in Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency.
