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The cryptocurrency payments start-up MoonPay joined forces with Fox Corporations, Universal Pictures, and Death Row Records to launch a non-fungible token platform. The feature, called HyperMint, will allow companies and individuals to mint millions of digital collectibles a day by employing blockchain technology.
MoonPay Enters the NFT Universe
In a recent interview for CNBC, Ivan Soto-Wright – CEO of MoonPay – revealed that HyperMint’s primary goal is to enable agencies, enterprises, and large brands to join the NFT sector by releasing their own digital artwork.
“The potential of NFTs goes beyond collecting; it’s the utility. You can essentially program anything into these NFTs over time, which is why we decided to focus on this new product offering. That’s really making this shift possible; to go beyond collectability and program utility into these NFTs, and there needs to be enterprise-grade tooling,” he commented.
The executive also argued that the initiative will be particularly beneficial to MoonPay’s partners – the movie studios Fox Corporations and Universal Pictures and the American record label – Death Row Records.
Founded in 1991 by Dr. Dre and other musicians, Death Row has released albums of rap icons, including 2Pac and Tha Dogg Pound. Earlier this year, Snoop Dogg bought the label, intending to revive its past glory.
For its part, MoonPay allows clients to buy and sell cryptocurrencies using bank transfers, credit cards, or mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. Despite the current grim condition of the digital asset market, Soto-Wright remains bullish, stating this phase is part of its nature:
“It’s been a rough few months for crypto. I’ve seen many of these different cycles before. I’ve seen this movie. There’s always going to be periods of volatility. It’s a brand new asset class, and we have a brand new subset of that asset class, which is NFTs.”
MoonPay’s Prominent Investors
Two months ago, the start-up closed an $87 million fundraiser led by numerous celebrities, including the former tennis champion Maria Sharapova, the Canadian singer Justin Bieber, the Hollywood actor Bruce Willis, and the rapper Snoop Dogg.
In addition, MoonPay had interacted with many other celebrities throughout the years and has often stood as a middleman when such people were buying NFTs.
At the beginning of 2022, the company purchased a zombie-themed CryptoPunk for 900 ETH, worth approximately $3 million at the time. MoonPay created a poll on Twitter where users could “guess” who the actual owner of the digital artwork was. Predictions ranged from popular basketball players to the renowned chef Gordon Ramsay.
In 2021, the TV personality – Jimmy Fallon – and the American rapper – Post Malone – revealed purchasing a Bored Ape NFT through MoonPay.
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