NFTs are coming to Instagram Says Meta CEO

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Instagram’s parent company Meta, confirmed on Tuesday that non-fungible tokens, better known as NFTs, will be coming to the picture and video sharing app.

Zuckerberg made the announcement at the SXSW conference, but did not provide a specific date for when NFTs might drop on Instagram.

Rumors of the news have been swirling for months with many predicting users will be able to mint new NFTs on Instagram and share those already in their collection.

During his speech, Zuckerberg said he hopes one day that users will be able to mint the clothes of their digital avatars as NFTs, but admitted there is still work to do before that can happen. 

This is not Zuckerberg’s first foray into blockchain technology, of course. In 2019, the CEO infamously tried to launch a digital currency called Libra but the effort floundered in the face of massive political and regulatory blowback. 

Several of the founding members of the so-called Libra Association left the project within months of its announcement after pressure from U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Brian Schatz (D-HI). By January 2022, Libra, by then called Diem, was dead.

More recently, during a virtual event last October, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would be rebranding to Meta, saying its focus will be to bring the metaverse to life and help people connect. 

Investors have reacted poorly to the news of Facebook’s rebrand and pivot to the metaverse. Since the announcement, Meta’s shares have tanked more than 20%. 

Tuesday’s news of the Instagram NFTs appeared to trigger little response from investors. Meta’s shares closed up around 3% on a day when the overall market was up about the same.

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