Instagram NFTs: Full Guide To Instagram Digital Collectibles (2023)

Updated March 2023:

It looks like Instagram has stopped working on digital collectibles (Instagram NFTs). In a surprise Twitter announcement, Stephane Kasriel, the Commerce and FinTech Lead at Meta revealed that they are disabling NFT features on the platform. Apparently, the company is focusing on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses. This means that even though creators will no longer have access to NFT features, the company is still committed to finding financial opportunities for them. This is shocking news for many creators who had just started using NFTs on the platform.

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Following the footsteps of social media platforms like Twitter and Reddit, Meta Platforms Inc. have introduced NFT sharing on Facebook and Instagram in May 2022 to select users in the United States. Currently, they are gradually rolling out this feature to countries across the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Americas. So, what does this mean for Instagram users like you and me?

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Table of Contents

What Are Instagram NFTs?

Meta Platforms are now supporting several large blockchains like Ethereum, Polygon, and Flow. As such, they have established integration with various third-party wallets including Coinbase Wallet, Dapper Wallet, MetaMask, Rainbow, and Trust Wallet. As for the Solana community, fret not as Meta promises to support the Solana blockchain soon.

Instagram NFTs basically give users the ability to post their prized digital collectibles on their Instagram profiles simply by connecting their NFT wallets. Similar to Twitter Blue, all verified digital assets will have a check mark to indicate its authenticity and ownership. Without this new feature, users can only screenshot or copy and paste their jpegs to use as their PFPs. Because of that, anyone can use someone else’s NFT as their PFP and the real owner can’t really do much. 

Meta is using its social media platforms to establish a higher level of accessibility towards the NFT space, empowering the diverse voices and underrepresented groups around the world. Instagram has also released the NFTeachMe series to help achieve these goals. Being one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, Instagram can effectively bring down the entry barriers to the NFT space and make it more inclusive for everyone.

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Artist Natalie Amrossi has seen an increase in NFT sales through Instagram NFTs. Credit: Instagram

How To Share Your NFTs On Instagram?

  1. Users will have to connect their respective third-party wallets holding the NFTs that they would like to share. 
  2. Users will have to complete a one-time authentication on the selected NFT wallet for Instagram to access the digital collectibles. 
  3. Users can then select the specific NFTs to be posted on their profiles.
Check out Instagram’s user friendly approach to share your NFTs

How To Sell Your NFTs On Instagram?

Looking to monetize your NFTs on Instagram? This feature can become an additional tool for creators, artists, and various businesses to monetize through NFTs. For starters, artists can broadcast their digital art through the social media platform that now supports NFT verification. Prior to that, artists can only post new artworks on NFT marketplaces, which certainly do not get as much exposure compared to Instagram.

Besides that, brands and businesses that want to introduce digital collectibles can do so directly from their Instagram pages. For instance, brands can release NFTs that unlock exclusive experiences and valuable utilities for their loyal customers. Instagram also allows businesses and creators to tag each other to speak to a broader audience. 

Moving forward, Meta may introduce NFT minting through the platform itself, or features that allow users to purchase NFTs directly from another user. As of now, Instagram already has many of the necessary tools such as Instagram shopping, AR integration, and blockchain integration to make this happen. We’ll just have to wait and see if it will come to fruition. All in all, it can be a great way for businesses to build connections with their community.

On a side note, do check out our guide on how to grow your business with NFTs.

Notable Names Using Instagram NFTs

Currently, we can already see some big names utilising this new feature. This includes UCONN basketball star Paige Bueckers, Pakistani-American artist/author Maliha Abidi, serial entrepreneur and NFT influencer Gary Vee, and many more.Â