Instagram is one of the most popular social media apps in the world right now. As you may know, Instagram is completely focused on photo and video, which basically makes it the platform of choice to integrate NFTs. Meta didn’t miss that either, because it is busy now developing the ability to create and sell NFTs through the Instagram app.
In an announcement on Wednesday, Meta said it is developing a toolkit that will allow users to fabricate NFTs from start to finish. “A small group of artists will soon have the opportunity to create and sell digital collectibles (NFTs) on Instagram,” Meta’s head of commercial and fintech department Stephane Kariel said in a statement.
NFTs, which Meta commonly refer to as “digital aggregates,” are unique blockchain tokens that give token holders ownership of an asset. In most cases, that asset concerns digital art, but it could also represent an object in the physical world.
At launch, Instagram will use the Polygon blockchain to mint NFTs. The app then also grabs metadata from OpenSea, so that the names and descriptions of the collections can be seen on Instagram. Initially, this new functionality will be available to a select group, but eventually the company will also open these possibilities to the general public.
Good for the industry
Meta’s decision to focus on the rise of NFTs with Instagram is good for the industry. This shows that in Silicon Valley they at least see future prospects in the industry and that can give people the confidence that we will survive the winter. For coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum, that seems obvious, but NFTs have only recently had their breakthrough.
In that regard, it remains to be seen whether people will still be willing to pay big money for digital art in the future. Many people joined in 2021 in the hope of being able to cash in a lot. For most, however, that cashing has failed to materialize and they are currently left with worthless tokens.
However, Meta is in no rush to introduce the possibilities on the platform and is taking it easy. That seems like a good strategy in this case, especially because the market is not ready to share these functionalities en masse at the moment. Possibly, Meta is hoping and waiting for the start of a new bull market.