Instagram, a social media site is about to release a number of tools associated with nonfungible tokens (NFTs) that will let creators generate, show, and sell NFTs.
At its Creator Week 2022 event on Nov. 2, Instagram parent firm Meta said that the platform would enable its creators to generate “digital collectables” and sell them “both on and off Instagram.”
The Polygon blockchain has been selected by Meta as the initial partner for this functionality. Meta claims that creators will have an “end-to-end toolkit” for generating, displaying, and subsequently selling NFTs within the platform.
It states that only a “small group” of United States creators will be permitted to test the new features and that expansion to other countries will follow, although it does not specify when this will happen.
Meta expressed support for the Solana blockchain and its well-known Phantom wallet in addition to its existing list of supported blockchains, which also includes Ethereum, Flow, and Polygon.
Additionally, metadata for individual NFT collections, containing names and descriptions, will be collected from the NFT marketplace OpenSea. Support for video NFTs will also be enabled.
According to Stephane Kasriel, head of commerce and financial technology at Meta, the blockchain gas fees for buyers will be covered by Meta “at launch,” though he did not say how long the launch timetable would be. Meta will not charge fees to create or sell NFTs until 2024, he added.
NFT transactions would continue to be subject to “app store fees,” Kasriel added, referencing to Apple’s 30% commission on NFT sales, which has been widely criticized for being higher than the typical 2.5% charge imposed by NFT marketplaces like OpenSea.
Given that both Apple and Google only permit in-app transactions made using fiat currencies and both prohibit buttons, external links, and other actions that provide customers with a method to avoid their commissions, buyers apparently won’t be able to buy Instagram NFTs using cryptocurrency through the Instagram app.
Because Meta has not stated how much commission it anticipates taking from NFT sales or what its creator royalties scheme would entail, it is unknown if Meta would follow the recent migration of NFT markets to opt-in royalty models.