Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has announced its decision to sunset its NFT and digital collectibles features on Instagram and Facebook. The company’s head of commerce and financial technologies, Stephane Kasriel, shared the news on Twitter, stating that the move was to enable the company to focus on other ways of supporting creators, people, and businesses.
According to a Meta spokesperson, the company is shifting its investments away from NFTs towards products like Meta Pay and features that enable creators to earn money directly on Meta platforms. The company is testing ways for creators to earn ad revenue on Reels, as well as other features such as tipping.
Meta struggles to make metaverse dreams a reality
The decision to wind down digital collectibles comes less than a year after the company expanded NFT support on Instagram for creators in 100 countries. Meta’s interest in NFTs seemed to intersect with its plans for a virtual reality metaverse, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg stating that he hoped users would one day be able to mint virtual clothing as NFTs.
However, as Meta struggles to make its metaverse dreams a reality, the company has been cutting costs across its divisions. Last year, Reality Labs, the division that works on AR and VR products, lost $13.7 billion, and in November, Meta laid off 11,000 employees, marking the largest cuts in company history.
As the hype around NFTs has died down significantly, Meta’s decision to sunset its NFT and digital collectibles features may not come as a surprise. The company has stated that it will continue to keep an eye on crypto for the long term.
Meta’s decision to sunset its NFT and digital collectibles features on Instagram and Facebook may be a result of the company’s focus on supporting creators and businesses on its platforms. As the hype around NFTs has died down, it remains to be seen how the company’s investment in crypto will play out in the future.