Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announced that the platform would begin testing NFTs with a select group of creators this week. According to Mosseri, there will be no fees for posting or sharing a digital collectable on Instagram. At the moment, Ethereum and Polygon are the supported blockchains for showcasing NFTs on Instagram, with support for Flow and Solana coming soon. Rainbow, Trust Wallet, and MetaMask are among the third-party wallets that will be compatible.
Creators and participants in the test can now share NFTs that they have created or purchased. These NFTs can be shared in your main Feed, Stories, or messages. Mosseri explained that only a small number of people have access to the test, but the company intends to roll out more NFT-related features in the future based on feedback from its initial testing.
NFTs on Instagram ?
This week we’re beginning to test digital collectibles with a handful of US creators and collectors who will be able to share NFTs on Instagram. There will be no fees associated with posting or sharing a digital collectible on IG.
See you next week! ?? pic.twitter.com/VuJbMVSBDr
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) May 9, 2022
Mosseri also mentioned that the creator economy is vital to Instagram. Still, one of the challenges the company is looking at is how, while there are currently various ways for creators to make money, many of them are unpredictable and changing rapidly. According to Mosseri, this new launch will provide an exciting opportunity for a select group of creators.
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In an announcement, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that similar features would be added to Facebook soon and possibly to other Meta apps in the future. Zuckerberg also said that Meta would be working on augmented reality NFTs, or 3D NFTs, that can be added to Instagram Stories using Spark AR, the company’s software AR platform.
“In the metaverse, individuals will buy, use, and exchange digital goods and experiences, and NFTs are a critical piece of the puzzle for making this a reality,” Alexandru Voica, EMEA tech comms at Meta, said in a separate announcement.
Voica went on to say that Meta is starting with NFTs since they’re a big part of the metaverse’s economic potential, but they’re just one of the technologies the business is looking into. Meta is looking into a variety of Web3 technologies, according to Voica, since the business believes they will lower prices, increase access, and speed up innovation for creators and people all around the world.
Instagram’s NFT test comes after Twitter allowed premium users to use NFT profile images earlier this year. Instagram and Twitter aren’t the only digital giants considering NFTs; YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki recently stated that the platform might adopt web3 technologies, including NFTs, to assist YouTube creators in making money.