Meta announces NFT integration in 100 countries for Instagram

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Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced the expansion of Instagram’s NFT integration to 100 countries in the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific regions.

Meta, formerly Facebook, first announced the NFT integration for its photo-sharing platform in May. At the time, the feature was limited to select users and collectors, with Instagram touting it as a unique way for content creators to earn income.

Now, the feature is going global.

Mark Zuckerberg announced we’re rolling out digital collectibles to 100 more countries. Now, more people, creators and businesses can showcase their #NFTs on @instagram.

We're also launching integrations with @CoinbaseWallet @hellodapper and support for @flow_blockchain.

— Meta Newsroom (@MetaNewsroom) August 4, 2022

As the social media giant revealed in an update, all that a user needs to do is connect their digital wallets to Instagram. As of press time, the platform either supports or plans to integrate third-party wallets such as MetaMask, Rainbow, Coinbase Wallet (NASDAQ: COIN), Trust Wallet, and Dapper Wallet. Posting NFTs on Instagram is free for now.

Users who post NFTs can tag their creators for attribution. They get to share them on their feed, stories, or even through messages to other users. They also have the option of attaching a description for the digital collectible.

For those who have minted their NFTs on Bitcoin, the waiting may be a bit longer, with Instagram only supporting NFTs minted on Ethereum, Polygon, and Flow, the blockchain network created by Dapper Labs (the creator of NBA Top Shot).

With over 1.4 billion users globally, Instagram will open up NFTs to a big audience. With this, the company has opened itself up to criticism regarding the energy consumption of the blockchain networks it has chosen to work with. And rather than work with more energy-efficient networks like BSV, Zuckerberg has chosen a different route, stating in May:

“We understand that blockchain technology and NFTs raise important questions on sustainability. Meta will help reduce the emissions impact that might be associated with the display of digital collectibles on Instagram by purchasing renewable energy.”

As Zuckerberg keeps his eyes on the metaverse, NFTs, and the digital future he wants to control, his core business, Facebook, set two records in the past year, but not the kind he’d want. In February, Facebook announced that for the first time ever, the number of daily users had dipped in the last three months of 2021. Then, in July, it announced that its revenue had shrank for the first time in the company’s history.

Watch: The BSV Global Blockchain Convention presentation, NFTs: What Can We Do Better?

https://youtu.be/GBpE–I9b1s