Instagram will begin testing non-fungible token (NFT) integrations this week, according to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, who stated as much in a video Monday.
The news was first reported by CoinDesk on May 7, with Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, and Flow being the chosen blockchains. Zuckerberg did not reveal any specifics about which blockchains would be supported.
“We’re starting building for NFTs not just in our metaverse and Reality Labs work, but also across our family of apps,” Zuckerberg said in the video. “We’re going to bring similar functionality to Facebook soon.”
Instagram is testing NFTs this week
Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s head of product, said in a video yesterday that a small group of US users will be able to post NFTs on their feeds, stories, and messages. The NFT details are displayed similarly to tagged profiles and goods, with the term “digital collectibles.” The creator and owner of the tag may be viewed by clicking on the tag.
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
Instagram’s chief product officer, Nick Mosseri, said the test is limited to begin so that Instagram may learn from the community. Perhaps in an effort to alleviate consumer concerns about a big social networking platform diving into NFTs, he raises a tension between large businesses like Instagram and Web3’s decentralized principles.
“I want to acknowledge upfront that NFTs and blockchain technologies and Web3 more broadly are all about distributing trust, distributing power,” Mosseri says. “But Instagram is fundamentally a centralized platform, so there’s a tension there.”
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The firm is also working on three-dimensional, augmented-reality NFTs with its Spark AR software, according to the release, which will first be compatible with Instagram stories.
The compatible third-party wallets will be MetaMask, Rainbow and TrustWallet, according to a Twitter thread published by a Meta representative. The post also stated that Instagram would initially support Ethereum-based NFTs, with Polygon, Solana and Flow integrations added at a later date.
