Meta is showing that the NFT train is once again slowing to a crawl, announcing today that it’s ending its NFT display projects across both Facebook and Instagram. Wow, that hyp certainly didn’t age well. Instead, Meta will be realigning its resources around other evolving priorities.

Meta’s Head of Commerce and Fintech Stephane Kasriel said:

“We’re winding down digital collectibles (NFTs) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses. A big Thank You to the partners who joined us on this journey, and who are doing great work in a dynamic space. Proud of the relationships we built. And look forward to supporting the many NFT creators who continue using Instagram and Facebook to amplify their work.”

Out The Door

Kasriel notes that Meta will continue to develop new ways for creators to connect with fans and monetize their work, but it’ll be focusing instead on areas where the company ‘can make an impact at scale’, including messaging and Reels. Meta first jumped on the NFT bandwagon in April of last year, which was already the tail end of the initial hype cycle, led by big-name NFT projects including Bored Ape Yacht Club and Cryptopunks. A month later, Meta launched a live test of NFTs on Instagram with select US creators and collectors.

Meta touted the potential of NFTs for creator monetization through the sale of digital goods, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg also pointing to the expanded role that digital items will play in the coming Metaverse shift. At least in Meta’s view, NFTs would be a major cog in this evolution. Less than nine months later, it’s moving on from the project, as it looks to rationalize operational costs.

It would seem that NFTs are the most recent to also become victims of the broader downturn in digital ad spending – although the broader enthusiasm around them has also significantly faded, further exacerbated by the current economic situation, including various crypto market shifts, like the collapse of FTX.

True enough, if you look at the sales figures from NonFungible.com, it’s obvious that most of the air has now leaked from the NFT bubble. In a way, it does make sense, given how many market analysts have noted that JPEGs aren’t really worth anything, and were never likely to be a lasting trend. This has been further diluted in recent months, with NFT creators instead turning to AI generators to create their pieces, which, more or less, translates to you paying for someone’s skill to actually train and develop tools like DALL-E.

The Wrap

Like most other hobbies, there is value in this element. The NFT movement ended up being muddied, in some respects, by the crypto investment aspect, using these ‘artworks’ as money-making schemes. Besides that, however, there’s a clear passion from some segments about the projects themselves, as well as those involved. In the end, NFTs still valued the connections you made along the way, which sounds as cheesy as cheesy could get, but has led to the provision of insights that will likely be a future consideration.

Sources

http://bit.ly/429strw