14th March 2023 – (New York) Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is winding down its non-fungible token (NFT) operations on both social media services. The move marks a pullback from Web 3.0 technologies as the company looks to focus on other ways to expand support for creators and businesses, according to Meta’s head of commerce and financial technologies, Stephane Kasriel, who announced the decision on Twitter. Instead of NFTs, Meta will shift its investments to Meta Pay and other features that enable creators to earn money directly on platforms.
The decision comes as global NFT sales declined to $1 billion last month from $4.3 billion in April 2022, according to Cryptoslam data. Meanwhile, Amazon reportedly plans to launch an NFT marketplace next month.