As NFT sales continue to drop due to the recent crypto crash, the world’s biggest social media company, Meta disclosed on Thursday, 4th of August that it would extend the NFTs feature it recently uploaded on Instagram to 100 countries from Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and the Americas.
This means that a huge number of Instagram users will now have the opportunity to display their digital assets on the main IG feed, in Stories or Direct Messages. Once a user posts a digital collectible, it will have a shimmer effect and can show public information, such as NFT details.
Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg posted his personal signed baseball card, which will be turned into an NFT, to announce this new expansion.
The Instagram NFT feature originally supports some of the top crypto payment tools, comprising Ethereum, Dapper, Polygon, and Flow NFTs. Meta plans to enable IG users to connect their Rainbow, MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, and Dapper Wallet to verify ownership.
Apart from connecting their digital wallet, users will also be able to share NFTs and automatically tag a creator and collector for attribution. Therefore, To post an NFT on Instagram, users need to connect their digital wallet to Instagram. The Instagram NFT feature will have no gas fee attached.
There will be moving parts here, but the in-depth view is that this new feature is not about displaying your monkey pictures on Instagram, but it’s more of a greater move to enable Meta to integrate the trading of digital goods into its tools, in a way that supports current usage trends, and won’t feel intrusive some say, Meta is creating its own cryptocurrency.
That would raise more topics, which might eventually open the door to increased regulation. But incorporating similar tools, and aligning with famous trends, could be a more easy way to integrate digital items and payments, without raising issues during the process.
Will NFT Collectibles Change Social Media (Instagram) Experience?
The company initially showed a hint to adopting Web3 last October when it rebranded to Meta in a push to help the Metaverse grow. In 2021, Meta lost over $10 billion on its Metaverse arm, Reality Labs, and employed 1,000 staff. Despite this, its Web3 aims have mostly been kept under wraps. Mark Zuckerberg had previously announced that it was intending to support NFTs, and in May the company began a test launch. Mark Zuckerberg disclosed the update at the time:
“We’re not just building technology. We’re trying to also help foster this ecosystem because at the end of the day, we’re not going to build most of the content – by a long shot. The vast majority of it is going to get created by creators in the ecosystem. And so I think a big part of what we need to do is really lean into all of the different ways that creators could make money.”
“The support for NFT is part of the company’s push into the metaverse,” he said.
The Instagram NFT feature could make NFTs become a larger part of the Instagram ecosystem. Though, it might take time to achieve this as NFT sales are currently witnessing a significant drop at the moment. But on the other, the Instagram NFT feature will provide another means to assist artists, with Meta particularly emphasizing the advantages for NFT creators from underrepresented communities as it was only available to select creators in the US previously, as per TechCrunch.
The main aim behind the Instagram NFT feature is that they’ll facilitate the trading of digital assets in the metaverse, like clothes for your avatar or in-world asset. This kind of marketplace is already generating millions within gaming worlds, like Fortnite and Roblox, and Meta’s belief is that NFTs are the main step towards promoting the same on a larger scale. Whether crypto remains digital currency or it becomes fiat currency, the potential is there for the framework to promote this kind of cross-platform trading. But not no sooner.
Meta to reduce Pollution by using Renewable Energy
On another part, Meta asserts that it’s operating to decrease the emissions impact associated with the exhibition of digital assets by purchasing renewable energy.
Although Instagram NFT features at present look similar to Twitter’s PFP NFT verifications, it’s glaring that Instagram’s tools will help to cut down scams as users are now able to verify the creation and ownership details of entire NFT collections.
A user showed her ultimate happiness about this new Instagram NFT feature: “I feel excited to be able to share my NFT journey with the community I’ve been cultivating on IG for over ten years! I love how this new feature will let collectors trace the art back to the artist and be a part of the community that they have been building on IG for so long. I also love how it bridges my traditional art community and the Women Rise NFT community.”– @maliha_z_art
Another user added: “As a purpose-driven NFT brand on a mission to remind women that they can be everything they want to be, Boss Beauties couldn’t be more excited to drive even more visibility and awareness through Instagram’s global community! We can’t wait to reach more women so we can educate and empower them to learn about all that is possible through web3 and NFTs.”– @bossbeautiesnft
What are the risks and challenges related to NFTs?
As with all new technology features, there will be challenges to navigate. Meta is working to build its products responsibly, sustainably and inclusively from the ground up. With this, the new Instagram NFT feature will be secured from fraud and scams which are the main challenges facing the market.
