KPMG Canada said Monday that it bought a World of Women non-fungible token (NFT) for a reported 25 ethereum (ETH), or about $73,000 at existing market prices.
The global accounting company also acquired an Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain name — a tool that makes cryptocurrency addresses more user-friendly — and minted kpmgca.eth.
The move comes after the firm announced in early February that it had added bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) to its balance sheet.
KPMG Canada reportedly paid 25 ETH or $73,000 for Woman #2681, a figure with blue skin and long curly hair. The firm said the purchase marks its “first foray into this rapidly growing asset class.”
“NFTs unlock a new channel for organizations to engage with their customers, while also underpinning innovation through the secure digitization of assets,” Benjie Thomas, managing partner at KPMG in Canada, said in a statement.
“Having now gone through the process, we are well-positioned to guide our clients around building a corporate NFT strategy, including acquiring and safeguarding NFTs.”
NFT market opening the door for female artists
NFTs are unique digital tokens that represent ownership of a digital or real-world asset. The tokens can represent anything, such as art, music, games, and real estate. Ownership of the NFT is recorded on the blockchain.
The World of Women collection features 10,000 first edition non-fungible token artworks of “diverse, inspiring, and powerful women living on the blockchain.” Since its launch in November, the NFTs have risen sharply in price, with a floor price of over 8.3 ETH (~$23,000), on the OpenSea marketplace.
According to the statement, KPMG conducted a poll of over 1,000 Canadians and found that 53% “say the NFT market opens the door for women artists to promote and monetize their work in ways that weren’t previously available to them.”
Some 40% of the people surveyed thought “avatars, crypto wallets, and digital goods will become the norm,” and 8% already own a non-fungible token.
“Women are underrepresented in the world of all things crypto, which makes us proud to make our first NFT acquisition in a collection that supports women,” said KPMG Partner and National Risk Consulting Leader Nancy Chase.
Growing interest
KPMG is not the only institutional entity making inroads into non-fungible tokens.
Visa bought a CryptoPunk NFT for 49.5 ETH in August last year while Budweiser acquired Ethereum Name Service domain names that same month. McDonald’s and YouTube have both made major moves in the industry this year.
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