Instagram to allow users to showcase their NFTs on the platform

Instagram users will now be given the opportunity of showcasing their blockchain art in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Meta will offer support for NFTs created on the Ethereum, Solana, Flow and Polygon blockchains.

NFTs have become increasingly popular in recent months. Twitter already supports NFT integration for Twitter Blue users. The platform allows NFT holders to use verified NFT images as their profile images.

Instagram rolls out NFT support

Through this new support, Instagram users will be required to add their cryptocurrency wallets to prove that they own the NFTs to be showcased on the platform. During the pilot launch for these NFTs, users will not be charged for posting and sharing the NFTs.

As aforementioned, Twitter has a similar offering unveiled in January this year. Instagram has not clarified whether the launch of this offering will offer immediate support to the four blockchains. It also announced that the testing phase would only be open to a select few NFT investors based in the US.

This announcement comes in the backdrop of Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement in March that Instagram was exploring NFTs. The Meta CEO did not provide in-depth details on how the company would adopt NFTs. However, he had mentioned that if the feature is rolled out, it would also be possible for users “to mint things within that environment.”

Meta’s plans for NFTs could go beyond supporting users to showcase verified NFTs. in January, a report by the Financial Times said that Meta was looking into ways of allowing users to develop, showcase and sell NFTs on various social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.

In December, the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, issued a report saying that the social platform was actively involved in exploring NFTs. At the time, Mosseri held a Q&A session on Instagram, where he posted the company’s NFT plans on his stories. He responded to a question asked by one of the users regarding his sentiments about bringing NFTs to Instagram.

“Nothing to announce yet, but we are definitely actively exploring NFTs and how we can make them more accessible to a broader audience,” Mosseri said.

The recent NFT plans for Instagram coincide with Meta’s plans for the metaverse. In October, Zuckerberg had talked about how the metaverse needed to provide support for “ownership of digital goods or NFTs.” At the time, Zuckerberg announced his plans to rename Facebook into Meta.

NFT support is dropping

Despite the growing support for NFTs, the sales and revenues have recorded a notable decline. NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea have recorded a slight dip in transactions compared to when the NFT buzz peaked in 2021.

Data from CryptoSlam shows that the NFT sales had dipped by 53% to reach $2.44 billion in March. However, some spikes have also been witnessed in cases of popular NFT drops. For instance, on May 1, the launch of Otherdeeds NFTs by Bored Ape yacht Club caused a significant increase in NFT transactions on OpenSea.