In May 2022, Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, among others, began testing integration with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Instagram. This concerned a select number of users in the United States who could use NFTs on their feed, stories and messages on the platform.
A few months later, the NFT pilot expanded to Facebook, with the ultimate goal of allowing users to display their NFTs on both platforms. NFTs were also made available on Instagram for a total of 100 countries in Africa, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and the Americas.
In November it faced a small group of Americans creators to mint and sell NFTs directly from Instagram via the Polygon (MATIC) blockchain.
Meta is discontinuing NFTs
It has now been announced that Meta will scrap its NFT function on both Instagram and Facebook, just under a year after its launch. Stephane Kasriel, Meta’s head of commerce and financial technologies, broke the news yesterday, saying that Meta “wants to focus on other ways to support creators, people and businesses.”
Some product news: across the company, we’re looking closely at what we prioritize to increase our focus. We’re winding down digital collectibles (NFTs) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses. 🧵[1/5]
— Stephane Kasriel (@skasriel) March 13, 2023
Kasriel added that the company is still prioritizing ways for users to “connect with their fans and earn money.” The company will focus on other products such as Reels, the company’s short video tool, for messaging and monetization
Kasriel further specified that Meta will continue to work with creators of NFTs and Web3 content using the suite of tools to help them grow their community.
Is Amazon entering the world of NFTs?
While Meta is stepping out of the world of NFTs, you could recently read in the NFT news that there are currently rumors that Amazon is going to enter this in a special way. The powerhouse of e-commerce is said to be developing the ability to link real-world assets to NFTs. The new platform will probably only be available in the United States initially.