Meta ‘winding down’ support for NFTs on FB, Instagram

SAN FRANCISCO: Meta is "winding down" support for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Facebook and Instagram.

Meta's head of commerce and financial technologies, Stephane Kasriel, tweeted on Tuesday: "Across the company, we're looking closely at what we prioritise to increase our focus. We're winding down digital collectibles (NFTs) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses."

"Proud of the relationships we built. And look forward to supporting the many NFT creators who continue using Instagram and Facebook to amplify their work."

He further mentioned that the company is "continuing to build to support creators, people, and businesses on our apps, both today and in the metaverse."

According to Kasriel, the company's priority is to create opportunities for creators and businesses to connect with their fans, as well as to monetise.

Meta will focus on areas where it can make an impact at scale, like messaging and "monetisation opps" for Reels."

And we'll continue investing in fintech tools that people and businesses will need for the future. We're streamlining payments w/ Meta Pay, making checkout & payouts easier, and investing in messaging payments across Meta," he added.

In May last year, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had announced that the company is testing NFTs on Instagram, with "similar functionality" coming soon to Facebook.

Later in July, the company rolled out a test to support NFTs on Facebook.

Meanwhile, last November, Meta had announced that it is testing minting and selling NFTs on Instagram.