Meta to Wind Down NFT Support on Facebook, Instagram

Meta plans to end support for NFTs on Facebook and Instagram, less than a year after jumping on the digital asset bandwagon.

This decision was announced on Monday by Stéphane Kasriel, head of Meta commerce and fintech.

“Across the business, we are looking closely at what we prioritize to increase our focus,” Kasriel wrote in a tweet. “We’re ending digital collectibles (NFTs) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses.”

An NFT, or non-fungible token, is a blockchain-based technology used to determine ownership of unique digital or physical items such as art, music, or even a tweet. NFTs started popping up all over the place in 2021, with some NFTs costing hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

NFTs can be part of a collection or stand-alone works of art. Buying a single NFT from popular collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, while sales of rarer NFTs can run into the millions.

NFTs received early support from crypto investors, becoming status symbols for celebrities and the crypto rich. But interest has waned in recent months as the cryptocurrency sector has taken a beating.

Instagram began testing NFTs last May, allowing a handful of US-based artists and collectors to share NFTs on the social media platform. In August, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Instagram would expand support for NFTs to over 100 countries.

Although Meta is suspending its focus on NFTs, the company still plans to work on integrating technology offerings with the financial industry.

“We will continue to invest in fintech tools that individuals and businesses will need in the future. We are streamlining payments with Meta Pay, simplifying checkout and payouts, and investing in messaging payments on Meta,” said writes Kasriel.

A Meta representative could not immediately say when they plan to end support for NFTs.