Instagram announces support for NFTs in 100 countries and territories
Instagram has entered the next phase of the NFT rollout. Mark Zuckerberg announced on his personal Insta account that users in 100 countries can now share NFTs on their profiles. To facilitate this push into the crypto world, Instagram has announced partnerships with Web3 native companies such as Coin base and Dapper.
During an interview with Tom Bilyeu, Zuckerberg discussed Meta’s growing interest in digital collectibles. “I think a big part of what we need to do is really lean into all the different ways creators can monetize,” Zuckerberg said. “So some of that will be things like supporting trade, some of that will be NFTs and ownership around it.”
One of the blockchain assets that will be shared on Instagram will be based on Zuckerberg’s own youth baseball card. See for yourself:
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A blog post details the ways Instagram is “bringing digital collectibles to more people.” Users in the 100 eligible countries can share their NFTs by linking their crypto wallets to their profiles. In addition to Coinbase and Dapper, enabled wallets include Rainbow, MetaMask and Trust Wallet. Instagram also supports Ethereum, Polygon and Flow blockchains. When a wallet is linked, the associated user’s NFTs will be verified with a check mark.
Although some technology companies have expressed skepticism about digital collectibles, Meta has been quick to support and adopt the technology. Instagram’s top executive, Adam Mosseri, has been teasing an NFT rollout for more than a year. This initiative began in earnest in May, when Instagram partnered with Polygon to begin verifying blockchain-based assets. NFTs also started appearing on Facebook in June.
Why is Meta so positive about a fleeting technology? One answer concerns the technology in the company’s name, since many metaverse rooms run on cryptocurrencies. Although Facebook has put the brakes on its metaverse plans, it still sees value in letting users display their prized collectibles.
There is another insidious benefit of bringing more NFTs to Instagram. Since many of these tokens are images, users will now be encouraged to post more images, not just videos. If you’re one of the people who’s been begging Instagram to go back to its roots, you might get your wish — sort of.
