NFT and metaverse entered the digital asset ecosystem with significant hype. Even though the fervor around these lasted for quite a bit, new technology came in and swooped the globe into a whole new direction. Several firms were seen investing heavily in the metaverse. However, a plethora of them soon shelved these efforts. The same seems to be panning out with NFTs as well.
Prominent tech firm, Meta created an uproar by bringing NFTs into its social media platforms Facebook and Instagram. In less than a year of its launch, Meta decided to steer away from the same. In a recent thread, Meta’s head of commerce and financial technologies, Stephane Kasriel said that the firm is “winding down” NFTs for now. He tweeted,
“…across the company, we’re looking closely at what we prioritize to increase our focus. We’re winding down digital collectibles [NFTs] for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses.”
Kasriel suggested that Meta intends to focus on other things such as Meta Pay as opposed to NFTs at the moment. Therefore, the firm moved forward with its decision.
In addition, several speculate that similar to its counterparts, Meta hopes to get into the artificial intelligence race. AI has emerged as an intriguing sector for research and development, exemplified by the rise of ChatGPT.
However, NFTs which were considered dead for quite some time was back in business. NFT sales surged to a high of $2 billion in February 2023, which is considered to be the highest since the Terra crash. Therefore, Meta’s latest move was not entirely popular.
Meta garners backlash for shutting down NFT support
Several took to Twitter to note how Meta wasn’t doing the right thing. A few others pointed out that Meta was back to focusing on what is profitable for them and “exploiting artists.”
A few others weren’t surprised as they suggested that Meta’s latest move wasn’t bad after all. One Twitter user wrote,
“There’s actually not much they could ever build with NFTs since Apple guidelines restrict anything beyond just displaying them on a profile. So makes sense to depreciate the feature.”