Meta’s photo-sharing application, Instagram, is now officially an NFT Marketplace. Instagram has been planning the same for a long time, and with this update, creators can sell their NFTs on Instagram. Only a select group of carefully chosen creators can use this feature at launch. But in the future, other creators will also have access to all the features.
Quick Take:
- Instagram is now an NFT Marketplace, but the feature is available to only a few creators.
- The new marketplace will not charge NFT creators or collectors any gas fees.
- The announcement for Instagram NFT Marketplace came in March 2022, and testing began in May 2022.
- There’s a limited fee structure, but the users might have to pay fees in the future for transactions on the marketplace.
Creators will be able to connect with and monetize their followers through digital collectible experiences in the latest update. Additionally, creators will have an end-to-end toolkit that will allow them to create NFTs on the Polygon blockchain and then sell them on Instagram or off the platform.
Instagram NFT Marketplace with Zero Gas Fees
The best part about selling NFTs on Instagram is the zero gas fees. Yes, the creator and collector won’t have to pay gas fees. However, according to Christine Pai (Meta Spokesperson), the no-gas fee will be available “at launch.” Maybe the same will be charged in the future.
Mark Zuckerberg is heavily investing in creating a Metaverse-first space for the users. Ever since changing Facebook’s name to Meta, the CEO is working to integrate Web3 technologies into these platforms.
Starting with Instagram, Meta is bringing Web3 technology to everyone who uses Meta products. However, in what manner and in how much time these will become mainstream is unknown.
From the Diary of a Creator
For beta testing, the Instagram NFT marketplace selected a few creators to check out the platform and its features. The first group of chosen artists consists of Amber Vittoria, Dave Krugman, Refik Anadol, Isaac “Drift” Wright, Eric Rubens, Jason Seife, Vinnie Hager, Sara Baumann, Olive Allen, and Ilse Valfre.
Dave Krugman is one of those creators and shows excitement about the Instagram Marketplace.
“In the age of interconnected creative communities, the name of the game is incentive alignment. If the things that benefit my audience also benefit me, we are able to create a social symbiosis.”
Dave Krugman
Meta is also hosting its Creator Week 2022 event, which will take place from November 1-7 in Los Angeles, London, Delhi, Bali, and Sao Paulo. And these updates about the Instagram NFT marketplace were made public during the event on November 2, 2022. The Instagram marketplace will also help the creators reach out to a specific subset of audiences.
What’s More
New integrations were also announced with the New York-based NFT marketplace “OpenSea” and the London-based Decentralized Storage Network “Arweave.” Meta will now use Arweave to store digital collectibles created by their creators on Instagram. Furthermore, information about Opensea NFT collections, such as their names and descriptions of the collections, will now be available on Instagram.
The NFT minting toolkits will first be available on the Polygon blockchain, and Meta also announced support for the Solana blockchain and Phantom Wallet, joining other blockchains like Ethereum and Flow that are already compatible as well as third-party wallets like Rainbow, MetaMask, Trust Wallet, and Coinbase wallet.
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