Instagram to Allow NFT Minting

Of all the major social media companies, Meta has been the most aggressive in embracing NFTs and supporting them. This year saw Facebook and Instagram, social media platforms under Meta, allow users to post their NFTs to both stories and feeds, opening the gate for more adoption and visibility. 

But as the year draws to a close, Meta is showing that it isn’t done yet. As announced on November 2, 2022, Instagram will soon allow users to not only display their NFTs on the site but also create them in-house as well. Instagram will also be expanding on display functionality and support a wider range of blockchains. 

Instagram and NFTs

In the statement, the Meta Press Room explained that it will be providing users with an end-to-end toolkit for NFTs. Initially, the option to create will only be available for NFTs on the polygon blockchain but the ability to showcase and sell them will have a wider reach across blockchains.

“Creators will soon be able to make their own digital collectibles on Instagram and sell them to fans, both on and off Instagram[..] People can easily support their favorite creators by buying their digital collectibles directly within Instagram. We’re testing these new features with a small group of creators in the US first, and hope to expand to more countries soon.” the statement said. 

This is similar to the way NFT displays were first rolled out in that a few users in select countries got to test the feature before more were given access. Users who favour the Solana blockchain and Phantom wallet are also in luck because Instagram has added support for the two. Instagram will also be working towards offering more information on the assets that will be listed and will be sourcing some of this from OpenSea. 

“[..] information for select collections where the metadata has been enriched by OpenSea, such as collection name and descriptions, will now be available on Instagram,” the statement says. 

This shows the level of dedication that Meta has towards NFT integration. For many NFT lovers, simply being able to display their assets on one of the biggest social media sites in the world was good enough. But being able to create them within the site as they would an Instagram story is another thing entirely. As this pilot program advances, we should get a deeper insight into what the creation suite will look like. 

Instagram: the Land of NFTs

Perhaps the exciting part of this new announcement is that we don’t yet know how exactly the NFT creation process will manifest. One interesting possibility is perhaps the chance to turn Instagram content or posts into NFTs themselves. 

As we all know, images are often minted and sold as NFTs and Instagram has been an image-focused social media site for years. The idea that a picture can be posted to Instagram and then sold as an NFT on the same platform could open up new revenue streams for creatives and more access for fans.