In this article, we’ll delve into the recent announcement by Meta, formerly known as Facebook, that they will be winding down their work with NFTs on Facebook and Instagram.
Key takeaways:
In a recent announcement, Meta, formerly known as Facebook, revealed that they will be winding down their work with NFTs on Facebook and Instagram.
This decision was made to prioritize other ways to support creators, people, and businesses, according to Meta commerce and fintech lead Stephane Kasriel.
The move comes as part of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s push to make 2023 the “year of efficiency.”
This push has led to the shutdowns of Meta-backed cryptocurrency Diem and digital wallet Novi in 2022.
Meta’s decision to step away from NFTs may indicate that the market for digital collectibles is not as strong as once believed.
Despite Meta’s exit from NFTs, other companies are still moving forward with the concept.
Reddit continues to promote its “digital collectible” avatars that are NFTs, Starbucks recently sold out a selection of 2,000 $100 NFTs in its Odyssey customer loyalty program, and Sesame Street just announced an NFT collaboration.
These moves suggest that NFTs still have potential, despite the setbacks experienced by Meta.
Meta’s decision to wind down NFT support on Facebook and Instagram is a reversal of their previous push towards “digital collectibles.” In fact, it was almost exactly a year ago that Zuckerberg announced the company’s push into NFTs at the SXSW festival. Instagram debuted its NFT support in May 2022, and the company announced another expansion of the feature in November of the same year.
Kasriel did not provide any specific reasons for Meta’s decision to reverse course on NFTs.
However, he did note that the company had learned a lot from the experience and would be able to apply that knowledge to support creators, people, and businesses on their apps today and in the metaverse.
The move away from NFTs may also be an indication of where Meta sees its priorities lying in the future.
The company will be focusing on monetization opportunities for Reels and messaging payments across Meta.
These areas may be seen as having more potential for growth and revenue than the market for NFTs.
Despite the setback for NFTs, the market is still evolving.
Companies like Reddit, Starbucks, and Sesame Street are continuing to experiment with the concept, and it is likely that others will follow suit.
While Meta may be stepping away from NFTs for now, the future of digital collectibles is far from certain.
It will be interesting to see where the market for NFTs goes from here. Will it continue to evolve and grow, or will it fizzle out?
Only time will tell, but for now, it seems that Meta is not betting on the success of NFTs on Facebook and Instagram.
As the market continues to develop, it is possible that new opportunities will arise for companies looking to explore the potential of digital collectibles.
