Meta announces Instagram NFT integration pilot
Facebook parent company Meta has announced a new integration plan with the blockchains of Ethereum, Solana, Polygon and Flow, which host the vast majority of NFTs
Meta has announced that they will be launching a pilot program to integrate some of the most popular crypto art NFTs from the four biggest NFT blockchain hosts in the world. This comes after months of hints and insinuations about Instagram's involvement in the crypto and NFT space.
The social media platform is planning integrations with Ethereum, Solana, Flow and Indian blockchain protocol firm Polygon, which issue the Matic token. Polygon raised $450 million from Sequoia, Softbank, Tiger Global and more in February 2022.
The four integrated blockchains host the majority of crypto art NFTs, with Ethereum and the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT series leading the way in terms of valuation.
The pilot program is limited to a few NFT owners in America for the moment, and Meta was unclear on whether the social media platform would provide support for all four blockchain protocols immediately.
Instagram is planning to integrate with widespread NFT wallets such as Metamask to prove ownership of any NFTs uploaded to the site. It has been reported by CoinDesk that the social media platform will not charge any money for uploading NFTs, unlike Twitter which did so for their hexagonal NFT profile pictures in January.
The crypto art NFT integration on Instagram will bring the ecosystem to an entirely new audience on one of the largest image- and video-focused social media platforms on the planet, with many Instagram users already using it to display their artwork and gain a following.
Edited by Anju Narayanan
