Meta is discontinuing its work on developing collectible Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on Facebook and Instagram.

Posting to Twitter, Stephane Kasriel, Meta commerce and FinTech lead, said the company was now “winding down” its work on NFTs to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses.

This could include a “decentralised social network” for sharing text updates as a potential rival to Twitter, a project the company announced it was exploring last week.

The social media giant said that the move would give creators and public figures a space to share timely updates about their interests.

Announcing the work being done on NFTs last spring, at the time Meta said it was viewing them as a way for people to support their favourite content creators by buying their digital collectibles directly within Instagram.

“Creating opportunities for creators and businesses to connect with their fans and monetise remains a priority,” Kasriel said, explaining that Meta now intends to focus on other areas where it can make “impact at scale”, such as messaging and monetisation opportunities for Reels.

In an interview with the Verge, Meta spokesperson Joshua Gunter confirmed that the pivot would also mean that Meta would end its tests of minting and selling NFTs on Instagram, as well as the ability to share NFTs on Instagram and Facebook.

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