The growth of cryptocurrencies and the metaverse concept has provided traditional finance companies an opportunity to scale their operations and meet consumer demands. In this line, financial services giant Visa (NYSE: V) is the latest entity to express interest in the metaverse, hoping to offer services in the virtual world.
In particular, the company filed two metaverse trademarks on October 22, with plans to manage digital and cryptocurrency transactions, cryptocurrency wallets, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and digital currency, among others.
The trademark filed before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) was revealed by licensed trademark attorney Michael Kondoudis in a tweet on October 27.
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Furthermore, if the application is approved, Visa will also offer software for managing digital transactions and auditing cryptocurrencies. At the same time, the payment giant seeks to provide virtual environments to facilitate interaction for recreational, leisure, and entertainment.
Visa’s involvement in crypto
The application compliments Visa’s long involvement with the crypto sector, having launched related products. For instance, in October 2021, the company unveiled its NFT program to support the industry before purchasing its “punk” from the CryptoPunk collection.
Furthermore, other payment companies, including PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), and Western Union, are also making inroads into the metaverse space. In this case, PayPal plans to offer downloadable software to buy, sell, store, and trade digital and virtual cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and tokens.
Elsewhere, Western Union intends to offer a digital trading exchange, issuing its tokens alongside facilitating its traditional money transfer business.
It is worth pointing out that the potential of the metaverse has seen more traditional sector brands warm up to the concept despite being in an infancy stage. The interest is highlighted by a recent report indicating that the total cryptocurrency-related trademark filings in the United States surpassed 3,600 between January 1 and August 31, 2022.
