Mark Zuckerberg confirms for the first time that Instagram will soon support NFTs

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Odaily Translator | Nian Yin Si Tang

Summary:

Summary:

- Instagram will integrate NFTs into its platform, but details are unclear in the short term.

According to Engadgetto reportto report

, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Instagram will soon support NFT.

Discussions about Instagram’s foray into the NFT space have been going on for months, but this is the first time Zuckerberg has personally confirmed the news. In December, Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, hadexpressexpress

The news also confirms a January Financial Times articleto reportto report

, that is, Facebook and Instagram may allow users to create and sell NFT directly on the platform, and may introduce the NFT avatar function.

Zuckerberg added that in Meta's long-term vision of creating a virtual world for users, NFTs will eventually play a role.

Meta previously ambitiously promised to build a virtual and augmented reality universe as the next phase of the internet. All along, the company has invested a lot of resources in this area, but it is currently losing a lot of money.Meta on Wednesday (February 2nd) local timeReleased fourth quarter 2021 financial results

, which disclosed for the first time the financial status of its Reality Labs division. Reality Labs is the department responsible for building the Metaverse vision.

The data shows that Reality Labs will lose more than $10 billion in 2021 alone, specifically:

1. 2019: Revenue of US$501 million, net loss of US$4.5 billion;

2. 2020: Revenue of US$1.14 billion, net loss of US$6.62 billion;

3. 2021: Net loss of $10.19 billion, revenue of $2.27 billion (revenue includes hardware, such as the Meta Quest virtual reality headset).

In this regard, Meta’s chief financial officer stated that in 2022, Meta’s “Metaverse” business operating losses will still increase. The decline in the metaverse business also dragged down Meta's full-year profitability. Excluding the loss of Reality Labs, the company's profit for last year would have exceeded $56 billion.

However, Mark Zuckerberg remains very bullish on the company's metaverse and Web 3 vision, saying the company's "path forward is not perfect," but he is "confident" in making unprecedented investments in emerging fields.

Zuckerberg's personal confirmation that Instagram is about to support NFT also highlights his firm belief in the metaverse vision, but it is unclear how NFT will be integrated into Instagram in the near future.

"I'm not ready to announce something today," Zuckerberg said, though he did offer some related ideas.