Facebook Introduces NFT Features for Selected Users
by Wenqi Lou July 08, 2022
After piloting NFT showcases on Instagram, global social media conglomerate Meta has now began testing the roll out of digital asset functionality on its largest subsidiary, Facebook. To begin with, the test run will enable US-based creators, which are a mere fraction of the platform’s near two billion daily users, to display both Ethereum and Polygon NFTs on their profiles.
To give visual insight into the new features, the conglomerates’ Product Manager Navdeep Singh took to fellow social media powerhouse Twitter to share a sneak peek into how the digital assets will appear on Facebook’s interface. The image shows a‘digital collectibles’ tab on users’ Facebook profiles, which, when tapped on, showcases the NFTs which reside within the crypto wallet that has been synced to the account.
The NFTs, which, in the future, will also be from the Solana and Flow blockchains, will also be posted on the Facebook timeline, where friends can then react to them through likes, comments, and shares.
The blockchain-infused move comes as part of the conglomerate’s goal to convert Facebook into a hub for digital asset-related activity, as it accompanies its plans to redesign its ‘Groups’ feature into something that emulates the qualities of Web3-adopting (and sometimes problematic) communications platform, Discord.
The conversation around NFTs has shifted from speculation to utility. Now, major players have opted to use NFTs to power loyalty, membership and ticketing services, signaling positive signs for mass adoption.
The company announced its plans to launch the project last week, a move that should not be understated. Yuga Labs is a juggernaut in the NFT space – it developed three of the current top 10 most valuable NFT collections and owns the intellectual property for more – and so far has not created any NFTs on any other blockchains other than Ethereum, where the majority of digital collectibles currently exist – meaning that one of the largest companies in crypto is betting big on Bitcoin.
Legal analysts say Rothschild’s case was dealt a devastating blow when, on the opening day of the trial, US District Judge Jed S. Rakoff ruled that a key expert witness supporting Rothschild, a well-known New York art critic named Blake Gopnik, could not testify before the jury.
As the demand for NFTs among consumers continues to grow, resources are being put in place to facilitate their sales. Case in point, popular e-Commerce platform, Shopify, expanded its NFT capabilities to allow merchants using the platform to design, mint, and sell Avalanche based NFTs.