Instagram is set to provide tools for generating, displaying, and selling nonfungible tokens (NFTs), which will be available to creators.
On Nov. 2 during its Creator Week 2022 event, Meta announced that Instagram creators would be able to sell digital collectibles and produce them “both on and off the platform.”
Within the Meta platform, creators will be able to create, showcase, and then sell NFTs via a complete toolkit. Polygon blockchain is being selected as a beta partner for this functionality.
It says a “small group” of United States-based creators will be able to test the new features and other countries will follow, but provides no information on when this will happen.
Meta, a Singapore-based blockchain-based platform for decentralized applications, has announced its support for the Solana blockchain and its popular Phantom wallet. In addition to its current supported blockchains including Ethereum, Flow, and Polygon, Meta also revealed its support for the Solana blockchain and Phantom wallet.
Video NFTs will also be supported and metadata such as names and descriptions for certain NFT collections will be pulled from OpenSea, the NFT marketplace.
Meta’s head of commerce and financial technology, Stephane Kasriel, said Meta would not charge fees to create or sell NFTs until 2024, and that blockchain gas fees for buyers would be covered by Meta “at launch”. He did not clarify how long the launch period would last.
Kasriel said NFT transactions would still be subject to “app store fees,” referring to Apple’s 30% commission on NFT sales that has drawn heavy criticism for being more expensive than the average 2.5% commission enforced by NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea.
Because neither Apple nor Google allow buttons, external links, or other actions that circumvent their commissions when users purchase Instagram NFTs through the Instagram app, this seemingly prevents buyers from purchasing Instagram NFTs using crypto through the Instagram app.
Meta has not discussed how much of a commission it will receive from the sale of NFTs or what its forthcoming royalty scheme will look like, whether or not it will follow the recent developments in the NFT marketplace in this regard.
