One of the most interesting developments in the crypto space is the introduction of non-fungible tokens to the masses. One of the most popular social media apps, Instagram, is set to add support for these new tokens in the near future.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, predicted that Instagram would add NFTs to their platform before the end of the year. This is the first step in a series of changes and developments that could change the popularity of the platform.
He announced in a South by Southwest session that NFTs will be added to Instagram. According to him, “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.”
Prior to the announcement, rumors spread in 2021 that NFTs would eventually get ported to the massive social media platform after Instagram Lead Adam Mosseri hinted that the team will explore NFTs. So, what does this mean for the future of Instagram and the introduction of non-fungible tokens to the masses?
Minting NFTs on Instagram
Based on Zuckerberg’s announcement, Instagram will allow users to mint their posts into NFTs – but in very little information. While he did say you can now mint art into NFTs for Insta, he never mentioned the specifics on how you can do so; does that mean you can convert and mint your most popular post for auctioning? Do you simply just post your art and press a dedicated mint button? Will certain stories become restricted access because the NFT will now be used as a paid pass just for followers to see it?
Instagram as a Marketplace
While he confirmed about minting on Insta, he didn’t say anything about auctioning and curating posts as if the social platform becomes a marketplace. While we are not exactly sure how he will implement the NFT process on the platform other than allowing users to post their NFTs as profile pics and uploads, this makes a good opportunity for sites like OpenSea, Larva Labs and Rarible to seize a partnership with Meta.
Expanding the Metaverse
It all ties up with his plans for Metaverse where you get to carry around your NFTs within his virtual world. With over 1.38 billion users on Instagram, this could be a big game-changer that may change the way people purchase digital assets in the future.
Instagram isn’t the first social media platform to receive NFT integration as Twitter did it first that allows users to set their NFTs into profile pictures. A hexagonal icon will show at the bottom of the image where anyone who is interested can see the metadata of the NFT.
There’s no exact date as to when this integration will happen but we may hear more from Mark Zuckerberg about the newest NFT features for everyone on the platform.
