Meta, the parent company of social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, first launched its nonfungible token (NFT) features on Facebook and Instagram in May last year, has announced it is winding down its NFT support, after only 10 months.
The move was confirmed by Stephane Kasriel, Meta’s head of commerce and financial technologies, who tweeted that the firm is “winding down” its NFT support to “focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses.”
https://twitter.com/skasriel/status/1635386565487898624?
According to Kasriel, Meta’s main focus is still on helping users connect with their fans and generate income. They plan to achieve this through various means, such as creating payment channels within the platform and messaging apps, as well as monetizing Reels, the short-form videos on Facebook and Instagram.
Additionally, Kasriel emphasized the company’s attention on Meta Pay, its payment platform, which could potentially support cryptocurrency in the future based on trademark filings made in May.
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. [5/5]
— Stephane Kasriel (@skasriel) March 13, 2023
The move is a significant reversal from May 2021, when Meta launched its NFT features on Instagram before expanding to Facebook.
The tools were made available to over 100 countries in August, and Meta even launched an “end-to-end toolkit” for minting and trading NFTs within Instagram in November.
While the NFT tools were first launched in May 2022, Meta’s financial struggles in its metaverse-building division have resulted in a need for cost-cutting measures.
The move received immediate criticism from the crypto community.
NFT artist Dave Krugman tweeted it was “a short-sighted move” and that Meta “quit before even starting,” while podcaster Marc Colcer said the decision seemed “short-sighted” for a company that’s supposed to be thinking long-term.
https://twitter.com/dave_krugman/status/1635394636679348225?
Allen Hena, co-founder of Web3 firm Earth Labs, accused Meta of scrapping NFT support as it realized it couldn’t “exploit creators.”
https://twitter.com/0xAllen_/status/1635395957688000512?
The scrapping of NFT tools is in line with other cost-cutting measures taken by Meta, including the layoff of 11,000 staff in November 2022.
The company’s metaverse-building division, Reality Labs, also recorded its largest-ever yearly losses of $13.7 billion in the same year.
Despite the setback, the crypto community remains optimistic about the future of NFTs and their potential for creators, artists, and businesses.
As the industry continues to evolve, it is expected that new and innovative tools will emerge, providing new opportunities for monetization and engagement across social media platforms.
