By
Temitope Olatunji
May 9th, 2024
Meta CEO mentioned that people would be able to show off their NFTs while potentially being able to mint new ones.
As the buzz around NFTs continues, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly said that the technology company is ready to jump on the NFT wagon through Instagram. There were a lot of reports on Twitter (NYSE: TWTR), discussing Zuckerberg’s discussion on onboarding NFTs on Instagram. According to a tweet by Engadget Senior Editor Karissa Bell, Zuckerberg mentioned the NFTs’ plan on Instagram at a panel at South by Southwest Festival. During the “In the Metaverse: Creators, Commerce and Connection” session, the CEO confirmed that Meta (NASDAQ: FB) is working on bringing NFTs to Instagram in the coming months.
Bell quoted Zuckerberg in the tweet, saying:
“We’re working on bringing NFTs to Instagram in the near term.”
She added that the billionaire said he was “not ready” to divulge the exact details of the NFT plans.
“But over the next several months, the ability to bring some of your NFTs in, hopefully over time be able to mint things within that environment.”
He further mentioned that people would be able to show off their NFTs while potentially being able to mint new ones. While speaking at the conference, Zuckerberg added that the avatar clothing in the metaverse could be minted as NFTs. However, he acknowledged it requires a lot of technicalities for the process to work seamlessly and effectively.
In January, the Financial Times reported that Meta was looking to launch NFTs. Though the plan was still in motion, Zuckerberg mentioned that the metaverse would be ideal to sell unique collectibles.
Instagram NFTs: a Part of Metaverse
NFTs have been on the technology company’s mind, and according to the Instagram leader, Adam Mosseri, Meta was “actively exploring” NFT technology. Last October, Facebook changed its name to Meta to reflect its attempt to build a new virtual world, a metaverse. This was not just a change of name but a change in the company’s direction.
The metaverse created by the social media behemoth will support non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The metaverse is considered a vast virtual world that millions of people using avatars can access. Also, Meta’s executives see metaverse as the next big thing and are looking to hire 10,000 workers across the EU.
This would be made possible by the company’s wallet Novi which allows people to send and receive money securely and without fees. A pilot version of the wallet was launched in the United States and Guatemala and used the Pax Dollar (USDP). The USDP, according to David Marcus, co-founder of Libra, has been operating successfully for over three years. “It has important regulatory and consumer protection attributes,” he added.
The wallet, however, received a lot of pushback from lawmakers. The regulators were of the opinion that Meta may not be able to manage a payment system. According to the lawmakers, the company seems incapable of handling existing risks. Meta launched its stable coin known as Libra in 2019. The venture failed and a California-based Silvergate Capital acquired it for $200 million. It is apparent that this failure did not dissuade the company from its pursuit in a virtual world.