Meta announces plans to stop working on NFTs

Meta is ditching its pursuit of NFTs as the company looks to prioritize, according to Stephane Kasriel, head of commerce and financial technologies at Meta.

“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,” Kasriel wrote in a Twitter thread.

Meta previously said NFTs could help expand the creator economy.

“It’s still early for the NFT market compared to where we think it’s going,” Kasriel said in a blog post in November. “By making NFTs easier to use natively on Instagram, we’re opening up new ways for the billions of people who use our apps to connect with and support their favorite creators — which, in turn, unlocks more economic opportunity.”

While creating opportunities for creators and businesses to connect with and monetize user bases remains a priority, the company is going to focus on areas where it can make an impact at scale. Kasriel earmarked product lines like “messaging and monetization opportunities for Reels.”

“We’re streamlining payments with Meta Pay, making checkout & payouts easier, and investing in messaging payments across Meta,” he concluded.