Instagram Launches Support For NFTs With New 'Digital Collectibles' Feature

Source: Instagram

Last week, Instagram launched its new NFT feature, Digital Collectibles, with select U.S.-based creators and collectors such as Blue The Great, Gary Vee, Paige Bueckers, Jaden Smith, and Sophia Wilson.

With Digital Collectibles, creators and collectors can connect third-party wallets like MetaMask, TrustWallet, and Rainbow and share NFTs created on the Polygon and Ethereum blockchains, to the Feed, Stories, and Messages. NFT posts will have a shimmer effect to stand out from other types of posts. Additionally, they have a Digital Collectibles label where users can tap to view information such as the NFT description, the creator, and the current owner.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's CEO, also discussed the company's plans to bring this functionality to Facebook and other apps in the Meta ecosystem and said it will soon begin alpha testing augmented reality NFTs through its Spark AR product.

The arrival of NFTs on Instagram coincides with a major drop in sales in the market. According to The Wall Street Journal, the number of NFTs sold daily has fallen by 92%, from 225,000 in September to 19,000 now. Even if the timing isn't ideal, Instagram's entry into NFTs could spur growth since it exposes NFTs to a broader, mainstream audience.

As of now, Digital Collectibles is limited as it is used only as a way for creators and collectors to showcase NFTs they have created or acquired, but Instagram will likely build out more functionality after a period of testing. Among the options would be an NFT marketplace where users could sell and purchase NFTs and NFT-backed subscriptions where creators could share exclusive content and access to owners of their NFTs.

With Twitter and now Instagram supporting NFTs, and YouTube and Reddit planning to follow, this heralds a wave of centralized companies bringing aspects of decentralization to their platform.