Meta has announced that it is testing the minting and selling of NFTs on Instagram.

Revealed by the company in a blog post, Instagram is looking to catch up with NFT marketplaces by creating a digital collectibles toolkit which will allow people to create NFTs on the Polygon blockchain and sell them on Instagram.

The company said that the tool will be available to “a small group of creators in the US” at first, while purchasers can display NFTs from the Solana, Ethereum, Polygon and Flow blockchains. Meta is also adding metadata from OpenSea to the display, akin to how Twitter shows NFT profile pictures.

Earlier this week, Meta also announced the expansion of its ‘professional mode’. This provides access to monetisation options including the Stars virtual currency which can be used to tip creators – but only on the short-form video Reels. Stars is effectively aping the approach taken by TikTok and YouTube which allow users to support creators via virtual currencies.

Instagram’s expansion into NFTs and doubling-down on video indicates that the Meta brand is committed to its idea that Instagram should no longer be predominantly viewed as a photo sharing app.

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