Meta, previously known as Facebook, is ready to enter the metaverse. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the official launch of NFTs on the Meta-owned social media platform, Facebook after the successful launch of NFTs on Instagram. Meta also announced the rebranding of Facebook Pay to MetaPay as an initiative to expand its reach.
Following Meta’s announcement, Ethereum and Polygon prices have surged 17%, is Facebook’s new update the solution to save the falling NFT market?
Amidst the falling NFT market, Facebook is launching non-fungible tokens on its platform to empower creators and bring more users into the NFT space.
As the biggest social media platform, this new feature will bring opportunities for creators and collectors to showcase their NFTs in an entirely separate tab called “digital collectibles.”
Facebook partners with selected US creators
Before Facebook, Instagram launched NFT support with selected NFT creators for testing in May. With the success of this testing, Instagram officially launched NFTs available for its international users.
Users can now display their Ethereum and Polygon NFTs on their feed, Instagram stories, and share them through DMs.
This month, Meta decided it was time to launch NFTs on Facebook with selected creators. A Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch that “the company has started a slow rollout that allows a select group of creators in the United States to post-digital collectibles on Facebook.”
Just like Instagram, Facebook will first test its technology with the creators. After the successful test, Meta will release it on the international server officially.
With NFTs on Facebook, Meta hopes creators will get a chance to showcase their digital artwork and make money by selling them online as NFTs.
After Facebook’s update, Meta will enable the NFTs feature on Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger.
Facebook Pay rebrands to MetaPay
Facebook Pay was launched to help make payments on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Whatsapp, and Messenger without having to fill out payment details.
In May, Meta filed trademark applications for the MetaPay payments platform. Later on June 22, CEO Zukerberg announced FacebookPay would be rebranding as MetaPay. The new platform will include cryptocurrencies as a payment method and enable users to buy digital collectibles, art, and other metaverse-based items.
MetaPay will be available on Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, and Messenger worldwide.
As of now, users can only buy things within the apps using MetaPay. Meta is yet to open the NFT sales feature on social media. The company will release a Meta Quest app store where users will buy NFTs and other digital items related to the metaverse.
Will Meta’s NFT update push the NFT market?
According to a recent report, Facebook holds 2.936 billion users with 1.960 billion daily users as of April 2022. Considering this huge figure, Meta’s decision to introduce NFTs can be quite positive for the overall NFT community.
The NFT feature will not only empower existing creators and artists to try out the new technology but also bring more buyers into the space. Meta already maintains a high reputation for introducing and normalizing new technologies to users.
Maybe with Facebook introducing NFTs, maybe the general public will show interest in the new technology, and Meta seems to be aiming for that to make its metaverse project successful.
Who knows? The new NFT update might even push the NFT market to rise since the Ethereum and Polygon prices surged high to 17% after Meta made the official announcement.
