Meta set to begin testing NFTs on Instagram Stories with Spark AR

Instagram’s parent company, Meta, announced Wednesday that it will begin testing NFTs on Instagram Stories using its augmented reality platform Spark AR.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said of the news, “We’re expanding our test so more creators around the world can display their NFTs on Instagram.” The company also stated in an announcement, “Creators and collectors will be able to share their digital collectibles across Facebook and Instagram after we begin rolling out the feature on Facebook with select US creators at a later date.”

Zuckerberg also confirmed that Facebook is set to support NFTs in the future:

“We’ll bring this feature to Facebook soon too — starting with a small group of US creators — so people can cross-post on Instagram and Facebook. We’ll also test NFTs in Instagram Stories with SparkAR soon.”

In May, Meta released digital collectibles described by the company as “a brand-new way for consumers and creators to share NFTs on Instagram.”

Earlier this week, Meta also announced it would join with other tech companies to create a Metaverse standards body. The group intends to build the next version of the web and develop a shared ethos for Web3 and the Metaverse. Some of the companies who joined the initiative include Adobe, Epic Games, Microsoft, Nvidia and Qualcomm; Apple was noticeably missing from the pack.

Meta isn’t the only company looking to integrate NFTs. It followed social media competitor Twitter, which brought NFTs to its platform back in January. Twitter’s NFT support allowed users to link Ethereum-based wallets to their accounts and display their NFT art as profile pictures. eBay recently acquired Ethereum-based NFT marketplace KnownOrigin, expanding its foray into Web3. Even existing DeFi companies like Uniswap are beginning to make moves into the NFT and metaverse markets with their recent acquisition of the NFT aggregator Genie.