Facebook, Instagram Ends NFTs Less Than a Year After Entering the Sector

On March 14, Meta announced an end for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, ten months after joining the collectibles bandwagon.

The announcement was made via a tweet by Meta commerce and fintech lead, Stephane Kasriel, who added that the social media giant was exploring other ways of supporting
creators and businesses in the digital asset space.

‘‘Across the company, we look closely at what we prioritize to increase our focus. We are winding down digital collectibles (NFTs) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses.’’ he said.

Among the businesses Meta, formerly Facebook, is reportedly shifting focus into, include the creation of financial technology tools businesses would need in the future. Specifically, the California-based social media firm aims to focus on messaging and monetization of opportunities for Reels, an Instagram feature for short video clips.

The status of NFTs

An NFT is a digital asset based on a blockchain, assigned unique digital codes representing physical items like artworks. 2021 saw a surge in the market for the asset class pushing their prices to millions of dollars, popular collections being, Bored Ape Yacht Club and Cryptopunks. That craze cooled down, especially during last year’s bear market.

The height of the adoption of NFTs by Meta was seen last May when it allowed some of its US-based users to share collectibles on social media, where Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to roll out the initiative to 100 more countries.

Even before diving fully into the NFT world, Meta was already working on yet another ambitious web 3 crypto project, a cryptocurrency Diem and crypto wallet Novi. The association championing Diem later sold its assets to the now-closed Silvergate Bank, while Meta voluntarily closed Novi wallet due to regulatory pressure.