Instagram starts testing NFT integration with select creators

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Meta, the recently incorporated parent company of Instagram and Facebook, has confirmed plans to roll out the work it has been doing on non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The initial testing of the NFT integration features will arrive on Instagram starting this week.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the confirmation in an excerpt from his recent interview with Impact Theory’s Tom Bilyeu that he shared on Facebook.

“We’re starting building for NFTs in not just our metaverse Reality Labs, but also across our family of apps. We’re starting to test digital collectibles on Instagram so that creators and collectors can display their NFTs,” Zuckerberg said.

While the rollout will start on Instagram, Meta has many more plans for NFTs. Zuckerberg stated that NFT integration is also coming to the Meta family of apps, including Facebook.

He also revealed that the company’s augmented reality (AR) software platform, Spark AR, is working on 3D NFTs that can be displayed in digital spaces like Instagram stories, as well as superimposed on physical space.

For Zuckerberg, NFTs will play an integral role in helping Meta actualize its dream of building the metaverse. Recall that the whole rebranding of Facebook to Meta was to build the decentralized virtual world of the future.

However, Meta is not the only social media platform to integrate NFT profile pictures. Previously, micro-blogging platforms Twitter, and content subscription platform OnlyFans, already allowed users to display NFTs in their profiles, while Reddit has similar plans.

Zuckerberg is confident of Meta’s future despite pushback

Since rebranding and making the virtual reality future its primary concern, Meta has been facing several challenges, one of which is from the European Union. Last February, the EU criticized Meta’s lack of EU-based servers for storing users’ data from the region.

In an SEC filing on the matter, Zuckerberg threatened to shut down Facebook and Instagram in the EU if the company could not use its U.S. servers to store data of its users based in Europe.

Also, in February, CNBC reported that Meta’s financials were struggling. The Q4 earnings report of the company showed that the company’s over $500 billion investment in rebranding had resulted in weaker-than-expected revenue growth.

Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth saw its biggest drop on the back of the report, falling by $30 billion. However, the CEO remains confident in the future of Meta.

Watch: BSV Stories – Episode 7: What is the metaverse?