Less than a year later, NFTs on Instagram and Facebook are dead.
In May 2022, Meta’s Instagram introduced support for cryptocurrency-based digital collectibles or NFT, and Facebook quickly followed. And what started as a limited test was later expanded to all Facebook and Instagram users in the United Stateswho were able to connect their digital wallets to Meta’s apps and share their beloved NFTs.
Now, however, the company is shutting down the program, with Stephane Kasriel, head of commerce and fintech at Meta, sharing the news on Twitter. “We are ending digital collectibles (NFTs) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people and businesses,” he wrote.
The tweet may have been deleted
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Kasriel said the company remains focused on creating new ways for creators and businesses to “connect with their fans and monetize,” including messaging and monetization opportunities for Reels. The company will also continue to invest in fintech tools such as Meta Pay.
Meta was once seemingly all-in on crypto, but its ambitious Libra (later Diem) cryptocurrency was buried by regulators before it even startsand the company hasn’t had much luck with other crypto projects, such as its Novi cryptocurrency wallet which was close in July 2022.
It’s unclear how much traction his NFT products had. But Meta recently laid off 11,000 peopleCEO Mark Zuckerberg saying the plan is to shift company resources to a “fewer number of high-priority growth areas,” like Meta’s ambitious vision for the Metavers. It looks like NFTs weren’t one of them.