Instagram Is Going to Be Piloting NFT Support Soon, According to Report

Key highlights:

• Instagram is reportedly going to introduce NFT-friendly features soon
• The platform plans to support NFTs on Ethereum, Solana, Polygon and Flow
• Per the CoinDesk report, Instagram won’t be charging users for its NFT features

Instagram will reportedly be launching NFT features soon

Instagram is planning to launch support for NFTs soon, according to a recent report from CoinDesk. The publication said that Instagram plans to support non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum, Solana, Polygon and Flow blockchain platforms.   

Per the report, the feature will support popular cryptocurrency wallets like MetaMask, which will allow users to prove ownership of their NFTs. Instagram’s NFT feature will reportedly be launched launched as a pilot for a small group of United States-based users. 

Twitter, another social media giant, launched a feature in January that allows users to use their NFTs as profile pictures. Verified NFT profile pictures have a hexagonal outline to distinguish them from standard profile picture. Currently, the feature is only available to iOS users who are subscribed to the platform’s premium service Twitter Blue. Unlike Twitter’s NFT integration, Instagram’s NFT-friendly features will be offered to users free of charge. 

Instagram is owned by Meta, the company previously known as Facebook. In March, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Instagram was planning to introduce NFT functionality in the “near term”. At the time, Zuckerberg didn’t provide many details about Instagram’s NFT plans.

NFTs first attracted widespread attention in the cryptocurrency community with the launch of CryptoKitties in 2017. However, the popularity of CryptoKitties faded away relatively quickly and it took until 2021 for the NFT markets to truly take off. 

What are non-fungible tokens (NFTs)?

NFTs from “blue-chip” collections like Crypto Punks and Bored Ape Yacht Club have sold for over $1 million, and the technology has attracted the attention of mainstream tech players like Meta. Even though cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance, Coinbase and FTX have launched their own NFT marketplaces, the NFT-native platform OpenSea is still dominating NFT trading volumes.

According to The Block’s data dashboard, NFT marketplaces handled $7.16 billion worth of trading volume in April, with OpenSea accounting for $3.49 billion.