Highlights:

  • Coming to March 2023 and a crypto winter witnessing a decline in NFT’s value indicates that these tokens as an asset are falling off the edge.
  • Instead of officially announcing the news, Stephane Kasriel, head of fintech and commerce at Meta, tweeted.

Meta Platforms Inc. disclosed that it is withdrawing support for nonfungible tokens (NFTs) on social media, including Facebook and Instagram, less than a year after launching the digital collectibles.

Earlier, it was reported that Meta started working on NFTs in January 2022, prior to testing on Instagram in May, and extended international support in August. With this option, users could exhibit NFTs on Instagram posts and connect to third-party crypto wallets, supporting NFTs minted on Polygon, Ethereum, and Flow blockchains.

Enabling users to feature NFTs and redirecting to third-party services are approximately the extent of services Meta could offer. Meta’s goal in launching the service was “to empower the community to access this emerging class of digital assets by collecting and displaying them on the platform.”

Coming to March 2023 and witnessing a crypto winter and a decline in NFT’s value indicates that these tokens as an asset are falling off the edge. To make it worse, it is observed that the US economy is stumbling, people are being laid off, three banks failed last week, and Meta announced focusing on other crucial things than managing NFTs.

The way it was reported points out the fact that Meta has been less sensitive toward NFT support. Instead of officially announcing the news, Stephane Kasriel, head of fintech and commerce at Meta, tweeted the news.

“We’re winding down digital collectibles (NFTs) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses. Across the company, we’re looking closely at what we prioritize to increase our focus,” wrote Kasriel.

Besides some banal commitments to partners, it is not clear what Meta is exactly withdrawing related to NFTs, as Kasriel mentioned that the company will continue to “look forward to supporting the many NFT creators who continue using Instagram and Facebook to amplify their work.” He also stated that Meta emphasized creating opportunities for businesses and creators for monetization purposes, especially in Instagram Reels and messaging services.

With a span of fewer than 12 months, Meta’s efforts to sustain NFTs ended in despair, probably being the last player to exit the market.