X Closes Doors on NFT PFP; Shifts Focus to AI Advancements

X, the social network company, disclosed its roadmap for the year 2024. The platform added a few new milestones including launching peer-to-peer payments and more AI-powered tools along with removing NFTs from the game. The feature of having an NFT as a profile picture (PFP) for the paid subscribers has been removed, dismissing all details from the premium support page. 

The feature was added by X’s previous management in 2022, permitting verified subscribers to set NFTs minted on Ethereum as profile pictures. Clicking the NFT allows users to get more details about the NFT including contract address, TokenID, and NFT collection. However, it is not clear if X will remove NFTs that are already set as a profile picture. 

Furthermore, no particular reasoning behind the change was recorded.  

Well, the decision was not surprising to the X community as many of the social networks have been experimenting with the NFTs. In March 2023, Meta Platforms closed the doors on NFTs whereas some popular social media platforms including Instagram and Facebook showcased support for NFTs in 2022. 

X’s Plan for 2024

The main focus of X for 2024 is to offer peer-to-peer payments and AI advancements. The platform is on its way to transforming into an “Everything app”, offering individuals services like payments, shopping, creator tools, and much more. For payment processing, the platform was licensed in December in the US with the recent addition of Pennsylvania and Arkansas.  

In addition to this, X also promised to invest in content partnerships, creators, brand safety, original content, and full-funnel ads. On the other hand, few of the social media platforms departed from the world of NFTs and digital collectible features. Stephane Kasriel, Meta’s head of commerce and financial technologies, had announced the removal of NFTs from Instagram and Facebook in March 2023. However, the platform expanded its support for NFTs and supported NFT creators in about 100 countries.                

NFT Marketplace Performance 

Despite the ups and downs, the NFT marketplace is performing well, showing good signs of recovery. However, one of the most valuable NFT projects, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), experienced a drastic decline from its peak. In the past 30 days, the NFT collection’s sales reached over $18.6 Million, a decline of 38%.

According to CryptoSlam, the NFT market with its digital creations is doing well, exceeding $1.6 Billion in trading volume. In the past month, the Global NFT sales volume hit over $1.5 Billion, reflecting an upsurge of 7.96%, with trade profit of around $59.7 Million and supply of  567,895,610. Additionally, the NFT market size value is expected to hit $35.7 Billion by the end of 2024 while revenues will grow to $211.7 Billion by 2030.

The rising acceptance of digital tokens, Web3, decentralized finance, metaverse, and growing traction of NFT marketplaces, are some factors contributing to the market growth.   

Disclaimer 

This article is for informational purposes only and does not provide any financial, investment, or other advice. The author or any people mentioned in this article are not responsible for any financial loss that may occur from investing in or trading. Please do your research before making any financial decisions.

Steefan George is a crypto and blockchain enthusiast, with a remarkable grasp on market and technology. Having a graduate degree in computer science and an MBA in BFSI, he is an excellent technology writer at The Coin Republic. He is passionate about getting a billion of the human population onto Web3. His principle is to write like “explaining to a 6-year old”, so that a layman can learn the potential of, and get benefitted from this revolutionary technology.