Zuckerberg declined to announce exactly what that will look like but did indicate that users will soon be able to bring their NFTs to the platform.
It has been rumored since January that users will at some point be able to create (or “mint”) and sell their own NFTs on the Instagram platform, in addition to displaying them on their profiles. The presumption is that it will use Meta’s digital wallet Navi, which is still in beta.
While Zuckerberg’s speech stopped short of confirming those reports, it does lend them more credence. Whatever Meta’s vision, Zuckerberg indicated that there are significant technical hurdles to overcome before it is realized. Navi does not currently have the ability to hold, display or send NFTs.
Zuckerberg also mentioned NFTs in the so-called “metaverse” including being able to outfit your digital avatar with unique clothing that could carry over from platform to platform through the use of NFTs.
Meta is the parent company of both Facebook and Instagram as well as the producer of the most popular virtual reality headset, the Meta Quest 2 (formerly Oculus Quest 2).
NFTs are the latest in the cryptocurrency craze. A non-fungible token is a piece of digital information that cannot be copied. Typically, they are images or other pieces of digital art and are “Minted” on Ethereum or other blockchains, typically through the OpenSea platform. Many advocates hope that digital spaces in the metaverse will enable more use cases for fledgling technology.