Instagram announced recently that starting this month, it will begin allowing a select group of digital creators to mint and sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs) directly from the social media platform.
The image-focused app only just made its digital collectibles feature available in 100 countries, enabling users to link to their digital wallets and display NFTs that they have either made or purchased. The connected NFTs can be shown in your feed and include a shimmery effect to indicate authenticity.
It will initially launch on the Polygon blockchain and will be tested among a small group of creators in the U.S., including Amber Vittoria, Refik Anadol, Jason Seife, Dave Krugman, and several others.
Furthermore, the latest version will give creators an end-to-end toolbox for creating, exhibiting, and selling NFTs by enabling them to create their own digital collectibles and sell them both on and off Instagram.
Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal commented that this move represents a remarkable milestone in the evolution of Instagram’s existing NFT functionality and a natural next step to bring Web3 to the mainstream.
Instagram will also add support for the Solana blockchain and Phantom wallet, as well as permit the display of video-based digital collectibles on its site. Prior to this, the platform connected to third-party wallets like Rainbow, MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, and Dapper Wallet as well as the Ethereum, Polygon, and Flow blockchains.
Additionally, Meta stated that until at least 2024, it will not charge any additional fees for selling digital collectibles or for displaying and sharing them on Facebook or Instagram.
It added, however, that digital collectible purchases made within the Instagram app on the Android and iOS operating systems are subject to applicable app store fees.
In addition, it pledged that neither creators nor collectors will need to pay gas fees for digital collectibles bought on Instagram at launch.