Instagram is disabling its NFT features
Moments ago, Instagram announced that it would end its digital collectibles (NFT) work. In a Twitter threadStephane Kasriel, Commerce and FinTech Lead at Meta, announced that features supporting NFTs will be disabled across the platform.
“We look carefully at what we prioritize in order to increase our focus. We are discontinuing digital collectibles (NFT) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people and businesses,” he wrote. Kasriel did not provide a reason or rationale for the decision, but said creating financial opportunities for creators “remains a top priority.” The company did not release any information on exactly when the features would be disabled, and representatives from Meta did not immediately respond to nft now’s request for comment.
The news came as a shock to many in the NFT community, especially since the company recently launched the features in recent months.
Instagram’s NFT timeline
Instagram users first got their first real taste of the platform’s NFT integrations in August 2022. That month, the company enabled NFT features for users in 100 countries worldwide. However, the tools were somewhat lacking.
At the time, the features only allowed users to display NFTs they created or collected. In short, the platform’s core NFT functionality had yet to be added – namely the ability for users to create, buy and sell NFTs with each other. It wasn’t until November 2022 that things changed. Just before the new year, Instagram allowed a select group of creators to start selling NFTs on the platform. The artists who were selected were hopeful, believing that the move would lead to a new and fairer creative economy.
“The NFT community would be wise to understand how intertwined we are with social media, […] I think with our forces combined, we can create a more sustainable system for creatives working in interconnected online communities, Dave Krugman, one of the creators selected to test Instagram’s NFT market features, told nft at the time.
It was only four months ago.
The Web3 community responds
When the news broke today, Krugman was one of the first creators to respond. “Such a short-sighted move. [The] the inclusion of digital collectibles has so much potential to help creators engage their communities and offset the pitfalls of attention-based advertising economies. You stopped before you started. A real shame and undoing a lot of really smart work by great people there,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Connie Ansaldi, CEO and founder of Carnaval Art, a blockchain-powered corporate loyalty service, argued that the company lacked foresight and let their fear guide them. “You don’t think long term. What if you would have said goodbye to the internet when the bubble burst in the 2000s? There would be no Google. Or Meta whatever,” she said.
This is a ripping story and was updated.
