Did you know that NFTs are coming to Instagram? The Digital Collectibles feature will allow users to not only showcase NFTs on Instagram, but also mint, buy, and sell NFTs.
Here’s what we know so far.
Even though there was a big hype around NFTs, they’re still very niche. Bringing NFTs to the masses will take time and more mainstream platforms will need to get involved for that to happen.
After the announcement that Meta platforms, Instagram and Facebook, will embrace NFTs, there was hope this move would legitimate and introduce NFTs to the masses.
The new Instagram feature is called Digital Collectibles and is still being tested. That means it’s not fully available to everybody at this moment. Testing in the US started in May 2022 and it was expanded to 100 countries in August 2022.
Here’s what you need to know about it.
Digital Collectibles is a new feature on Instagram that will allow its users to view, share, mint, buy and sell NFTs. Instagram will provide users with an “end-to-end toolkit” to achieve that. The feature is also available on Facebook, but users can only view and share NFTs, but not mint, buy or sell them.
According to Misshattan, a photographer, “NFTs have opened the doors to new opportunities for me and other artists around the world. This new technology provides us with another outlet to make a living and to connect with our fans and collectors.”
By connecting their crypto wallets, users will be able to showcase the NFTs they’ve bought and created as posts on their feeds. What makes these NFT posts unique is the shimmery effect, which indicates their authenticity. The type of NFT collectibles users can showcase on Instagram will extend to videos as well.
When users share an NFT, the post will be tagged to show who’s the owner and creator of that particular NFT.
Another interesting feature is the ability to mint, i.e., create, NFTs directly on Instagram. Polygon blockchain will provide the infrastructure for it.
Users who mint on this platform have two options — add NFTs to their wallet or sell them on Instagram. After adding an NFT to their wallet, users won’t be able to sell it on Instagram anymore, but only on third-party marketplaces.
Because it will allow users to directly buy and sell NFTs, Instagram will become an NFT marketplace. This is an interesting move that will certainly impact the NFT market and popular marketplaces like OpenSea, as it’ll become a direct competitor.
However, it’s still too early to tell how big the impact will be, as that depends on many factors. Primarily, will the crypto and NFT community embrace Instagram, and how successful will Instagram be in bringing NFTs to the masses?
Read more: How to Get Started with Digital Collectibles?
If you meet all the requirements, here’s how to post an NFT on Instagram.
The first step is connecting your crypto wallet to Instagram.
The supported wallets on Instagram include Rainbow, MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, Phantom Wallet, and Dapper. Facebook supports MetaMask, Rainbow, Trust Wallet, and Dapper. According to Meta, users can connect multiple wallets.
Note that all of these wallets are supported for posting NFTs, but for minting, you’ll need a Polygon-compatible wallet.
To connect your wallet for posting NFTs on Instagram, follow these steps.
If you want to, you can also add another wallet.
To share an NFT on Instagram, you need to first have it in your wallet. There are three different ways to do that — mint it on Instagram, buy it on Instagram, or buy it on a third-party marketplace and add it to your wallet.
When you have NFTs in your wallet, sharing them on Instagram is very simple and takes just a few taps, just like a regular post.
And that’s it, your NFT post will appear on your feed with a cool shimmery effect! This is a great way for collectors to show off their collections as well as an awesome promotional tool for NFT creators. You can also cross-post on Instagram and Facebook.
This is another feature that is gradually being rolled out to users. As of now, it’s only available to some users. But even if you’re one of those selected people, you still need to meet certain requirements.
To mint NFTs on Instagram, you need to have a crypto wallet that’s compatible with Polygon and it’s supported by Instagram. Naturally, you also need to connect it to Instagram.
Furthermore, a regular Instagram won’t cut it — you need to set up a professional account and enable two-factor authentication.
Additionally, you need to meet Instagram Terms of Use, Digital Collectible Terms of Use, Community Standards, and Partner Monetization Policies.
If this feature is available to you, you’ll need to connect your wallet by following the aforementioned steps and meet all the requirements.
Here are the steps for creating an NFT on Instagram.
When you create your first NFT, you’ll also create your first NFT collection and you’ll be able to add more NFTs to that collection.
Users will be able to create and post NFTs on Instagram free of charge until 2024. This initiative will likely popularize digital collectibles as it simplifies entry into the web3 world.
However, users who make a purchase through the Instagram Android and iOS apps may need to pay app store fees.
This is what we know so far about NFTs on Instagram. Keep in mind that Instagram is still testing this feature and new updates are coming out each month. It’ll be interesting to follow how this project evolves.
Blog Credits: Medium
