NFTs will appear on Facebook as Meta continues to expand Web3

Facebook will support NFTs and use the "Digital Collectibles" tab on creators' timelines to showcase their creations. Meta Technologies project manager Navdeep Singh showed screenshots of the NFT and a creator’s page on Twitter on Thursday.

A spokesperson for Facebook’s parent company Meta told TechCrunch on the same day that the rollout of NFTs on Facebook will be gradual, starting with some creators in the United States. Eventually, NFT creators will be able to cross-post between Facebook and Instagram (another Meta asset). Instagram is also testing NFTs in its Spark AR augmented reality platform.

Last week, Instagram expanded its trial of NFTs from the United States to international users. The app allows the display of NFTs minted on Ethereum and Polygon, with plans to display other NFTs from Solana and Flow.

Meta announced in May that it was beginning to test NFTs on Instagram, and Facebook will follow suit “soon,” according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Other Meta-owned apps, such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, will eventually roll out NFT display capabilities, he added.

Facebook will rebrand to Meta in October 2021. It has been working hard to scale in Web3, but not all efforts have been successful. Meta dropped its attempt to launch a Diem stablecoin in February after facing backlash from global regulators. Nonetheless, Meta filed a trademark application for the Meta Pay payments platform in May, and Zuckerberg announced on June 22 that Meta Pay would replace Facebook Pay.

Meta Pay will launch on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, Zuckerberg said. However, a company spokesperson told TechCrunch that Meta “represents that it does not currently offer the ability to turn digital favorite posts into ads on Facebook,” so it appears Meta will not be launching NFT sales there.

NFT sales are expected to launch on the company’s Meta Quest app store, which offers apps and games for Meta’s metaverse.