Instagram to introduce NFT feature soon
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, has confirmed that Instagram will soon launch a non-fungible token (NFT) feature.
This statement was made at South by Southwest (SXSW) 2022, an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences held in mid-March in Austin, Texas, United States.
Twitter announced its NFT profile picture feature for users on January 20, and Instagram is about to follow suit. Zuckerberg specifically stated that the feature would be added in the near future, and that NFTs would be mintable on Instagram within months.
“We’re working hard to bring NFTs to Instagram in the near future.” I’m not quite ready to say exactly what that will be today. But, over the next few months, you’ll be able to bring some of your NFTs in, and hopefully, over time, you’ll be able to mint things within that environment.”
Instagram implementing NFTs had been rumored for a long time before a leak in July 2021 confirmed it. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri stated in December that NFTs were being actively investigated, and a Financial Times report in January cited two sources stating Meta was working on NFT features for its flagship social media apps, Facebook and Instagram, with the former featuring a marketplace.
At the same SXSW event, WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon announced the launch of an NFT marketplace just before WrestleMania 38 – WWE Moonsault.
The marketplace’s launch will be closely followed by WrestleMania 38, which is scheduled for Saturday, April 2, and Sunday, April 3.
The marketplace will be available on the website wwemoonsault.com, where fans can also sign up for an email list to receive more information and regular updates. The official WWE Universe Discord community has also joined the marketplace.
Once the marketplace is live, fans will be able to use fiat currency or cryptocurrency to buy, trade, sell, and store NFTs by creating an Eluvio-powered digital wallet.
WWE’s first foray into the crypto world began with the release of its Undertaker NFT collection during WrestleMania weekend in April 2021. Following the release, the company released another set of NFTs, this time featuring John Cena NFTs, over the SummerSlam weekend in 2021.
WWE also signed a multi-year partnership with Fox Entertainment’s blockchain division, Blockchain Creative Labs, in 2021. The two have collaborated to create a marketplace for officially licensed digital tokens and collectibles, similar to WWE’s previous NFT collections.
NFTs have progressed from being a blurry pixel artwork to being adopted by the world’s largest industries in media, art, sports, and gaming.
