Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is discontinuing its incorporation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on its platforms.
According to Stephane Kasriel, Meta’s head of commerce and financial services, in a Twitter thread on Monday, this move will enable the company to concentrate on alternative means of aiding creators, individuals, and businesses.
According to Kasriel’s tweet, “a big thank you to the partners who joined us on this journey and who’s doing great work in a dynamic space. We learned a ton that we’ll be able to apply to products we’re continuing to build to support creators, people, and businesses on our apps today and in the metaverse.”
Some product news: across the company, we’re looking closely at what we prioritize to increase our focus. We’re winding down digital collectibles (NFTs) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses. 🧵[1/5]
— Stephane Kasriel (@skasriel) March 13, 2023
Kasriel affirmed Meta’s commitment to assisting creators in connecting with their followers and said the company will shift its attention to other products, such as Reels, for messaging and monetisation. Meta will also continue collaborating with NFT and Web3 content creators who use its suite of tools to expand their communities.
Meta initiated testing of its Digital Collectibles feature in May 2022, allowing specific platform users to exhibit their NFTs. The company launched support for the feature in September and later, allowing a group of U.S. creators to mint and sell NFTs on the Polygon blockchain directly from its platforms. Despite gaining some traction, Meta is altering its approach to exploring other areas, including decentralised social media platforms.
The Wall Street Journal said on Friday that Meta plans to lay off a few people in the coming months. Sources familiar with the matter told the publication that the company was also anticipated to discontinue some projects and teams.
