Instagram NFT integration is in the works for Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, and Flow, which house the majority of digital collectibles trade. On Monday, May 9, the social networking platform sets to announce a pilot program.
According to a Coindesk report, the Meta-owned platform will target a small group of NFT enthusiasts in the United States. Whether Instagram will support NFTs from all networks during the pilot is unknown. Users will get no charge for showing their NFTs on the platform.
Mark Zuckerberg enacts NFT integration plans
The pilot comes nearly two months after Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Instagram would be adding NFTs. At the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, Zuckerberg told Shark Tank host Daymon John that Meta is “working on bringing NFTs to Instagram in the near term.”
Meta, Instagram’s parent company, has also unveiled more initiatives that will make use of blockchain technology. The company’s choice last year to rebrand from Facebook to Meta has raised corporate interest in the metaverse.
This Instagram NFT integration design intends to improve NFT adoption by increasing the number of people who have access to them. Twitter is now the only social media network with fully-integrated NFTs.
Meta sets off a social media shift
According to reports, Facebook is planning to offer minting and group membership later this year. Meta is also said to be working on a virtual currency called Zuck Bucks.
Instagram has also stated that it would support popular crypto wallets such as MetaMask. Users will need to connect their wallets to the site before they can display the NFTs on their profile and prove ownership. They will also be able to tag the NFTs’ creators.
NFT integration was recently tested on Reddit, and YouTube allows its creators to experiment with the technology. However, with over one billion monthly active users, Instagram would introduce NFTs to a new audience.