Instagram’s parent company Meta announced on Wednesday that it is developing tools for creators to mint and sell NFTs on the social media app.
The upcoming “end-to-end toolkit” will allow creators to create (starting with the Polygon blockchain), showcase, and sell NFTs to their fans on the social network.
“People can easily support their favorite creators by buying their digital collectibles directly within Instagram. We’re testing these new features with a small group of creators in the US first, and hope to expand to more countries soon,” wrote the company in a newsroom post.
The small group of creators include photographer DrifterShoots, artist Amber Vittoria, media artist Refik Anadol, visual artist Ilse Valfré, and several others.
Instagram recently launched its Digital Collectibles feature in over 100 countries, allowing users to showcase their NFTs by connecting digital wallets directly to the app. The NFTs can be set as profile pictures, something similar to that of Twitter.
NFTs on Ethereum, Polygon, and Flow, as well as third-party wallets MetaMask, Rainbow, Coinbase Wallet, Trust Wallet, and Dapper Wallet, were supported for this feature. Meta announced the addition of support for Solana blockchain and Phantom wallet.
For the time being, Meta won’t charge any fee for NFT sales on its application, but the company noted that in-app transactions are still subject to app store fees on the Android and iOS platforms.
“We believe web3 tech, like blockchain, will positively enhance the economic model for creators by giving them the ability to create new types of digital assets to monetize and enable better and more sustainable ways for them to build their businesses.” said Stephane Kasriel, Head of Commerce and Financial Technologies at Meta.
“This is why our strategy for web3 technologies — including blockchain — focuses on helping creators make a living.”
At launch, Meta has also promised to cover gas fees for collectors of NFTs bought through Instagram but didn’t specify the end date of the perk.
