Meta, the company behind popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has just announced it is “winding down” support for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on its platforms.
On March 14, Stephane Kasriel, Meta’s head of commerce and financial technologies took to Twitter to reveal the company will end its tests of minting and selling NFTs on Instagram as well as the ability to share NFTs on Instagram and Facebook in the coming weeks.
She further noted that the closure will allow the company “to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses.” The Meta exec emphasized that the company is currently focusing on “areas where we can make impact at scale,” like messaging and monetization on Reels and on improving Meta Pay. Kasriel said,
“Across the company, we’re looking closely at what we prioritize to increase our focus. We’re winding down digital collectibles (NFTs) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses.”
Some product news: across the company, we're looking closely at what we prioritize to increase our focus. We’re winding down digital collectibles (NFTs) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses. 🧵[1/5]
— Stephane Kasriel (@skasriel) March 13, 2023
Meta Winds Down NFT Support
As per the series of tweets, Kasriel stated although Meta has decided to remove NFTs from Facebook and Instagram, it will continue to create opportunities for creators and businesses to connect with their fans, as well as to monetise.
She added the social media giant will keep investing in fintech tools that people and businesses will need for the future. It will also continue to work with NFT and Web3 content creators who leverage its suite of tools to help them grow their community. Kasriel wrote,
“Creating opportunities for creators and businesses to connect with their fans and monetize remains a priority, and we’re going to focus on areas where we can make impact at scale.”
Another Round of Layoffs
This comes after the Wall Street Journal reported last week, that Meta is planning another round of layoffs over the coming months. The company is also expected to shut down some projects and teams in conjunction with these cuts.
Last year, the company cut roughly 11,000 jobs, or about 13% of its employees. Recently, at the Morgan Stanley 2023 Technology, Media & Telecom Conference, Susan Li, Meta Chief Financial Officer said,
“We’re continuing to look across the company, across both Family of Apps and Reality Labs, and really evaluate are we deploying our resources toward the highest leverage opportunities. This is going to result in us making some tough decisions to wind down projects in some places, to shift resources away from some teams.”
