Meta could be the next to join the NFT train. According to the Financial Times, Meta is working on ways to manufacture, display, and sell NFTs on Facebook and Instagram. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is considering ways to enable users to generate and sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on its platforms. NFTs are a $40 billion market that shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

The company’s Novi wallet technology will enable much of the “supporting functionality.” Instagram is apparently testing a mechanism to display NFTs, while Meta is also talking about launching a marketplace to allow people to buy and sell these digital artifacts. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri indicated in December that his company was “actively studying” NFTs, saying: “we are actively exploring NFTs and how we can make them more accessible to a broader audience.”

It would make sense to take a look at NFTs. While firms occasionally misuse the link between NFTs and the metaverse (just because a service offers NFTs doesn’t imply they’re creating a metaverse), Meta may want to create a framework for them so that residents of its virtual worlds can sell one-of-a-kind digital artifacts. If NFTs prove to be more than a passing fad, this might also help Meta prevent third-party systems like OpenSea‘s market from acquiring too much traction.

In terms of progress on this initiative, the released information indicates that they are “at an early stage and could yet change.” Last October, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, stated that the metaverse should facilitate “ownership of digital products or NFTs.” It’s worth noting that advertising an NFT for sale does not imply that it will be connected to the metaverse. Speculators are frequently perplexed by this concept.

Buying an NFT entitles you to digital ownership of an item on the blockchain, such as a jpeg, gif, video clip, or piece of music. NFTs have recently been chastised for their lack of security and market volatility. Crypto.com, one of the largest online cryptocurrency marketplaces, was hacked earlier this year, with more than $34 million worth of Ethereum stolen from affected users’ accounts.

However, with Twitter working on ways to display items from a blockchain and Reddit developing its own NFT platform, this level of mainstream engagement indicates that NFT support will become more widespread across the web.

In case you missed it, Pace Gallery announced its brand new NFT platform.

Photo via Financial Times