Non-fungible token technology is becoming integrated into the operations of many companies, including car manufacturers and real estate firms. Even if many novel and innovative businesses have embraced the new technology, tech giants such as Youtube and Meta have been reluctant to give any promises.
The silence was broken when Mark Zuckerberg recently said that “We are working on bringing NFTs to Instagram in the near term.”
The announcement came as part of a conversation with Daymond John at the Southwest Festival last week, Mark Zuckerberg elaborated that “I’m not ready to announce exactly what that’s going to be today, but over the next several months, you’ll get the ability to bring some of your NFTs in, and hopefully over time be able to mint things within that environment.”
The announcement is seen as a follow-up by a vague but promising comment by Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s CEO, who in December of 2021 mentioned that “Nothing to announce yet, but we are definitely actively exploring NFTs and how we can make them more accessible to a broader audience. I think it’s an interesting place that we can play and also a way that hopefully helps creators.”
Even if lacking in concrete details, the announcement could excite potential investors and increase Meta’s market confidence. After a massive investor pull, the company recently rebranded itself away from the classic name “Facebook” and suffered a $300 billion fall in market value.
Many financial and crypto experts speculate that NFTs will inevitably be an essential part of the upcoming metaverse that Meta is planning. Furthermore, some see it as a strategic move to hop on the trend that has seen massive popularity in the mainstream to bring back investor confidence.
NFTs are a massively growing market. There was $24.9 billion in revenue in 2021 from OpenSea. In January, they reported a massive $4 billion in revenue, which sets expectations that the market will become even larger this year.
The pressure to integrate NFTs into the platform is not only one coming from the public but also other companies. TikTok launched their NFT series “TikTop Top Moments” back in October of 2021 and has pledged to keep innovating by using NFTs.
The company claims that “TikTok Top Moments will feature a selection of culturally-significant TikTok videos from some of the most beloved creators on the platform. These featured creators, renowned for their cultural impact, have partnered with prominent NFT artists on One-of-one and Limited Edition NFTs.”
As those tech giants fiercely fight for dominance, the one who wins may be the company that implements the newest technologies that are not only the most efficient but also resonate with what people care about, and for many, this happens to be NFTs.
