Meta is killing NFT support on Instagram and Facebook
Meta is killing NFT support on Instagram and Facebook
To focus on other monetization initiatives
Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, is winding down its integration of digital collectibles (NFTs) on its platforms.
Stephane Kasriel, Meta’s head of commerce and financial technologies, shared the news in a Twitter thread on Monday. The tech giant is shutting down its NFT initiative “to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses,” Kasriel wrote.
“A big thank you to the partners who joined us on this journey and who're doing great work in a dynamic space,” Kasriel tweeted. “We learned a ton that we’ll be able to apply to products we’re continuing to build to support creators, people, and businesses on our apps, both today and in the metaverse.”
Kasriel added the firm is still prioritizing ways for users to “connect with their fans and monetize” and will focus on products such as “monetization opps for Reels” and “messaging payments across Meta.”
The update comes almost exactly a year after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced at SXSW that Instagram was working on NFT support, which debuted last May.
By November, Meta allowed a small group of U.S. creators to mint and sell NFTs on the Polygon blockchain directly from Instagram.
On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Meta is planning multiple rounds of layoffs in the coming months. People familiar with the matter told WSJ that the company will likely “shut down some projects and teams.”
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