Zuckerberg-Led Meta Is Giving Up On NFTs For Instagram And Facebook

Is Meta giving up on non-fungible tokens or NFTs? Turns out, it's happening. On Twitter, Meta's commerce and fintech head Stephane Kasriel said that the company is "winding down" its work on NFTs on Facebook and Instagram, signalling a quick change in how the tech world now sees NFTs.

Reuters

This means that Meta will no longer test minting and selling NFTs on Instagram and users would no longer be able to share NFTs on Instagram and Facebook in the coming weeks, The Verge reported.

Some product news: across the company, we're looking closely at what we prioritize to increase our focus. We¡¯re winding down digital collectibles (NFTs) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses. ?[1/5]

¡ª Stephane Kasriel (@skasriel) March 13, 2023

"We¡¯re winding down digital collectibles (NFTs) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses." The company, Kasriel said, would now focus on "areas where we can make impact at scale."

What went wrong for NFTs?

"Creating opportunities for creators and businesses to connect with their fans and monetize remains a priority, and we're going to focus on areas where we can make impact at scale, such as messaging and monetization opps for Reels," Kasriel said.

Reuters

Earlier, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had said that he plans on making 2023 the "year of efficiency" which essentially translates into cost-cutting measures, be it in terms of layoffs or shutdowns of similar projects like the cryptocurrency Diem and Novi digital wallet.

Reuters

Also read: Non-Fungible Tokens: How 'Punk' Crypto Trend Gave Rise To NFTs For Digital Art

If you're still betting big on NFTs, worry not! While Meta might be pulling out for now, many other companies are still in the game, even if not as fiercely as they were during the pandemic era.

For instance, Reddit still promotes its "digital collectible" avatars that are basically NFTs and Elon Musk's Twitter is most likely to keep working on NFTs, including the ability to buy and sell NFTs through Tweets.

Reuters

Also read: Bill Gates Blasts Cryptocurrency Projects, Says NFTs Are Based On 'Greater-Fool' Theory

Recently, the market for NFTs has become considerably smaller, going from billions of dollars a month in volume to a few hundreds of millions... which, to be fair, is still a lot of money.

What do you think - are NFTs dead? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.