Meta to wind down NFTs as it continues to prioritise efficiency

Social media giant Meta is set to wind down its non-fungible token (NFT) business as it continues to assess what to prioritise across the company.

The announcement was made via the Twitter account of Meta’s commerce and FinTech head Stephane Kasriel, who said the company would be focusing on other ways to support creators, people and businesses.

In his Tweets, Kasriel noted that Meta was still looking to support NFT creators who use Instagram and Facebook to amplify their work.

He added that “creating opportunities for creators and businesses to connect with their fans and monetise remains a priority” and the company was going to focus on areas it could “make impact at scale”, such as messaging and monetisation features for Reels, Instagram’s video element.

Kasriel further noted that Meta would continue to invest in fintech tools needed for the future, such as streamlined payment via Meta Pay and messaging payment options.

Last year, Meta’s Diem cryptocurrency and the company’s Novi digital wallet were among the first in this sector to shut down, with the latest move to now see tests of minting and selling NFTs on Instagram, as well as the ability to share them to also come to an end, as per a report by The Verge.

While the NFT market experienced a significant boom in early 2021, the sector crashed in 2022 due to interest in the market waning and various scandals and scams that ran rampant throughout.

The decision to close down the NFT side of the business follows similar moves by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, as he continues to embark on a process to make the company more efficient.