Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has revealed that his video and photo sharing app Instagram is preparing to add non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to the platform.
“We are working to bring NFT to Instagram in the short term,” Zuckerberg said in an appearance at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas. The Facebook founder did not provide details on when the rollout would occur.
Casey Newton, a writer for the Platformer newsletter, tweeted from the conference that Zuckerberg also said he hopes that in the coming months, Instagram users will be able to mint their own NFTs on the platform.
On #SXSWMark Zuckerberg just said that “hopefully” in the next few months you’ll be able to mint NFTs inside Instagram
—Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) March 15, 2022
Meta did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph on when the NFT functionality would be available.
Last October, Meta changed its Facebook name to focus on its Metaverse-related projects. The company’s reporting for the final quarter of 2021 revealed financial details for its virtual and augmented reality research and development business, Reality Labs, for the first time, showing losses of more than $10 billion. To be fair, though, since Meta’s corner of the metaverse isn’t active yet, it would be hard to make a profit from it.
This is not Meta’s first attempt at a crypto-related project. In 2019, the company signaled plans to create “Libra” (later renamed “Diem”), a USD-pegged stablecoin that failed due to lack of regulatory approval and community pushback. The project was bought by Silvergate Capital, although some former Meta employees are now looking to revive the open source stablecoin by building a network of their own.
Related: Vale Diem: How Facebook’s Ambitious Stablecoin Project Came to an End
Social media companies have been looking to implement cryptocurrencies and NFTs on their platforms following Twitter’s famous decision to add support for NFT profile pictures in January. Reddit implemented NFT avatars from its own collection, and the adult site OnlyFans enabled NFT profile pictures in December 2020.
It’s not just the social media giants that are looking to get in on the action that crypto has to offer. Traditional financial companies are showing their interest in the space, with major credit card company American Express hinting at expansion into the Metaverse according to trademark filings.
Applications filed this week with the US Patent and Trademark Office showed that American Express is poised to offer virtual banking and exchange services, cryptocurrency services and allow the use of its credit cards in an NFT market.
This post Instagram will add NFT soon, says Mark Zuckerberg
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