Meta has announced that it is “winding down” NFTs on Instagram and Facebook as it focuses on other areas to help creators monetise.
Meta’s commerce and fintech lead Stephane Kasriel said in a Twitter thread (oh, the irony) that it is ending tests minting and selling NFTs on Instagram and sharing NFTs on Instagram and Facebook.
“We’re winding down digital collectibles (NFTs) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses,” said Kasriel.
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]
— Stephane Kasriel (@skasriel) March 13, 2023
“First: a big Thank You to the partners who joined us on this journey and who’re doing great work in a dynamic space. Proud of the relationships we built. And look forward to supporting the many NFT creators who continue using Instagram and Facebook to amplify their work.
“Let me be clear: 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.”
The news would seem to mark NFT support as another victim of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s “year of efficiency” after he cut some 11,000 staff and promised a renewed focus on business efficiency after the company continued to lose money.
Zuckerberg had also promised that NFTs and digital collectibles would be a large part of the metaverse’s offering.
