Meta Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg a few days ago has confirmed that video and photo-sharing app Instagram plans to add non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to the platform.
According to news reports, Zuckerberg said, “We’re working on bringing NFTs to Instagram in the near term.” He made the announcement during a conversation with businessman Daymond John a few days ago at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, US. Zuckerberg was, however, tight-lipped about the specifics of the plan.
Zuckerberg’s announcement also backs up a January report which claimed that Facebook and Instagram were considering allowing users to generate and trade NFTs directly on the platforms, as well as introducing NFT profile pictures.
Zuckerberg has told Shark Tank’s Daymon John at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday that the popular social media app plans to offer NFTs shortly.
According to Zuckerberg, users would be able to mint their own NFTs on the platform within the coming months, Platformer newsletter writer and crypto influencer Casey Newton tweeted to his 152k followers.
Last December, Instagram, which has more than a billion monthly active users, said it was actively exploring bringing NFT technology to a wider audience.
Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s head of programming, said, “I think it’s an interesting place that we can play and also to hopefully help creators.”
Source: Variety
According to Casey Newton of The Verge, Zuckerberg added that he was hopeful that NFTs would be on Instagram in the next few months. “I would hope that you know, the clothing that your avatar is wearing in the metaverse, you know, can be basically minted as an NFT and you can take it between your different places,” he continues, according to Engadget.
“There’s like a bunch of technical things that need to get worked out before that’ll really be seamless to happen.” Zuckerberg also said that NFTs would play a major role in his vision of the metaverse.
Though he didn’t go into specifics of how it would work, according to a report in Engadget, Zuckerberg expects that users will be able to mint their own NFTs on the platform in a few months.
However, it’s still unclear what Zuckerberg meant by minting an NFT on Instagram. Can a user sell a popular post on Instagram as an NFT? Or can they create NFTs to be used as passes to allow users to see specific Instagram Stories?