Instagram Plans to Bring NFTs to its Platform as Parent Company Meta Fully Embraces the Metaverse

Instagram will soon join Meta in its quest to fully dive into the metaverse, kicking it off with bringing non-fungible tokens to billions of Instagram users.

Why Instagram Wants to Bring NFTs to a Wider Audience

Instagram is seeking new ways to incorporate NFTs into its social networking platform, most especially to its two billion Instagram users, as its parent company Meta pushes forward into the metaverse.

According to Adam Mosseri, Instagram's CEO, they are building features that are designed to accommodate non-fungible tokens to the social media app.

Besides being popular as modern-day art and video collectibles, non-fungible tokens are unique digital assets that are key to unlocking a metaverse, since they can convey ownership within a virtual environment.

In an Instagram story posted Saturday, Mosseri stated, "Nothing to announce yet, but we are actively exploring NFTs and how we can make them more accessible to a wider audience."

According to Mosseri NFT is an interesting environment to experiment on where people can play and earn, but at the same time to 'hopefully help creators' uphold their artistry and make a solid living out of it.

Non-fungible tokens are digital assets traded via the internet, often paired with cryptocurrencies, and are generally recorded on a blockchain.

The beginning of 2021 saw a spike in public interest in NFT, and Instagram is considering integrating the trend into its platform.

All of it started just earlier this year after Instagram's parent company, Facebook, rebranded as "Meta" and refocused on the metaverse, which refers to online environments in which people can interact digitally with one another using avatars.

In the first quarter of this year, NFT's total sales hit a whopping $10 billion, driven in part by the efforts of big brands like Nike to leverage NFTs and virtual worlds.

Instagram NFT: Will it Happen?

It is estimated that Instagram had roughly two billion monthly active users as of December, as per CNBC's report.

Mosseri did not describe what he meant by his Instagram post. Still, it appears the photo-and video-sharing network may provide its users with tools for showcasing the NFTs they create or allowing users to follow their favorite creators.

In July, app developer Alessandro Paluzzi shared screenshots of Instagram's plans related to NFTs. Posts may feature a "collectible" label to identify NFTs held by a user in a separate section, the screenshots showed.

Furthermore, he shared a new feature showing Instagram users could make NFT bids directly on the app; in addition, he noted that Instagram is likely to support crypto wallets like MetaMask and CoinBase, and Novi wallet by Facebook.

In previous posts, Palazzi has revealed unannounced updates later confirmed by Instagram, including the possibility of letting creators access more detailed information and testing Reels payment.

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Written by Thea Felicity