Meta is terminating its short-lived NFT support service across its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram
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Big Tech and social media giant Meta announced it’s winding down Instagram and Facebook nonfungible token (NFT) features to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses.”
The short-lived service was initially tested by a “small group” of creators last May and June. In August 2022, Instagram NFT functionality expanded to more than 100 countries in Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and the Americas.
To begin with, Instagram’s NFT functionality allowed users to connect a digital wallet, share NFTs and automatically tag both creators and collectors. In November 2022, Meta introduced an “end-to-end toolkit” allowing creators to mint their own digital collectibles (NFTs) and sell them to fans or collectors both on and off Instagram.
However, all these updates apparently couldn’t bring the desired effect to the NFT feature. The company representatives didn’t explain why they finish off the service, although Stephane Kasriel, Meta’s head of commerce and financial technologies, did state the firm will focus on payment tools like Meta Pay instead.
Except for Meta Pay, the tech giant will concentrate on features that enable creators to earn money directly on Meta’s social media platforms, like its tipping feature called gifts or messaging payments, as well as work on monetizing Reels feature on Facebook and Instagram.
Nevertheless, the company doesn’t give up on blockchain and crypto. Being a fervent supporter of metaverse technology, Meta may ultimately support cryptocurrencies on Meta Pay, according to its last-year trademark filings.
Overall, Meta has been cutting costs across many areas of operations, firmly holding to its metaverse vision amid global economic turbulence.
