NFT creators and collectors will soon be able to display their tokens on Instagram. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company is testing NFTs on the platform, and “similar functionality” will soon be available on Facebook.
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri posted a video on Twitter where he said that for now only a small group of US users will be able to display NFTs on their feed, stories, and in messages. NFT details are displayed in a similar way to tagged profiles and products and are named “digital collectibles.” Clicking on the tag will display details like the name of the creator and owner.
“I want to acknowledge upfront that NFTs and blockchain technologies and Web3 more broadly are all about distributing trust, distributing power,” Mosseri says. “But Instagram is fundamentally a centralized platform, so there’s a tension there. So one of the reasons why we’re starting small is so that we can learn from the community”.
According to Meta spokesperson Christine Pai, NFTs minted on the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains will be supported initially, with Solana and Flow coming soon.
Mosseri points out that support for NFTs on Instagram could help introduce the technology to a broader range of people. Instagram isn’t the first platform to do so: in January, Twitter introduced NFTs on the platform as hexagon-shaped profile pictures. An icon in the corner of Instagram posts of NFTs also appears as a hexagon.
This decision likely spells a rush of new cultural visibility for NFTs. Instagram has over one billion monthly active users; many of whom use the platform to promote and market their art. The introduction of NFTs on Instagram has opened lots of opportunities for creators worldwide.
