Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg today announced that the company is beginning an international expansion of NFT support on Instagram. This expansion comes on the heels of the social network’s first NFT test in May. With this expansion, users and businesses in more than 100 countries in Africa, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and the Americas will now be able to share their NFTs on Instagram. prior to the expansion, the support was only available to select creators in the U.S.
The company also announced today that Coinbase Wallet and Dapper Wallet are now accepted as compatible third-party wallets for use. instagram is also expanding its supported blockchains to include Flow.
Instagram’s NFT feature allows users to connect to digital wallets, share NFTs, and automatically tag creators and collectors for attribution. Users can share NFTs in their main Instagram feed, Stories or messages. once a digital collection is posted, it will be decorated with a shiny effect and can display public information, such as a description of the NFT.
In order to post a digital collection on Instagram, a digital wallet needs to be connected to Instagram. as of today, Instagram supports connections to third-party wallets, including Rainbow, MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet and the upcoming Dapper Wallet. Supported blockchains include Ether, Polygon and Flow. the social network notes that there are no fees associated with posting or sharing digital collectibles on Instagram.
Earlier this year, Zuckerberg said Meta would work on augmented reality NFT, or 3D NFT, bringing it to Instagram Stories using Spark AR, Meta’s software AR platform. It begins today allowing all users to display and share their digital collections as AR stickers in Instagram Stories.
Meta said today’s feature expansion reflects its efforts to expand the use of web3 technology through NFT and support creators who want to monetize their work and build a community with their fans and collectors.
“We understand that blockchain technology and NFTs raise important questions about sustainability,” the company said when it first launched its NFT test in May.” Meta will help reduce the impact of emissions that may be associated with displaying digital collections on Instagram by purchasing renewable energy.”
The expansion on Instagram comes just weeks after Meta began testing NFT on Facebook with select creators. At the time, the company said it would not offer the ability to turn digital collectibles posts into ads for now.
The expansion of Instagram’s NFT capabilities comes after Twitter enabled NFT profile pictures for premium users earlier this year. Instagram and Twitter aren’t the only digital giants looking to embrace NFT, with YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki saying the platform may embrace web3 technology, including NFT, as a means of helping YouTube creators make money. In addition, Reddit recently launched a new NFT-based avatar marketplace that allows users to buy blockchain-based profile pictures for a fixed price.
