March 16, 2023
By Anjali Kochhar
Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms Inc is cutting off support for digital collectables or non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on its platforms less than a year after rolling it out, as the crypto market continues to spiral.
“We’re winding down digital collectables (NFTs) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses,” the social media firm’s fintech head, Stephane Kasriel, tweeted earlier this week.
“Let me be clear: creating opportunities for creators and businesses to connect with their fans and monetize remains a priority, and we’re going to focus on areas where we can make an impact at scale, such as messaging and monetization apps for Reels,” said Kasriel.
He also added that Meta will continue investing in fintech tools that people and businesses will need for the future.
“We’re streamlining payments w/ Meta Pay, making checkout & payouts easier, and investing in messaging payments across Meta,” he said.
The company rolled out support for creators to share NFTs on Instagram and Facebook last year when the speculative crypto asset had exploded in popularity, with sales of cartoon apes to video clips touching billions of dollars.
But crypto tokens took a beating in late 2022 after major exchange FTX crashed into sudden bankruptcy.
The downfall was worsened by last week’s collapse of three U.S. banks two of which were crypto-focused.
About the author
Anjali Kochhar covers cryptocurrency stories in India as well as globally. Having been in the field of media and journalism for over three years now, she has developed a sharp news sense and works hard to present information that goes beyond the obvious. She is an avid reader and loves writing on a wide range of subjects.
