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- Facebook-parent Meta is planning to enter the booming market for non-fungible tokens.
- The Financial Times reported the social-media giant is planning to allow users to create and sell NFTs.
- The plans are still in the early stages, but they will likely hinge on the company's crypto wallet Novi.
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Facebook-owner Meta Platforms is reportedly drawing up plans to enter the booming market for digital collectibles known as NFTs.
Meta is planning a feature that would let users display NFTs on their social-media profiles, according to the Financial Times, citing several people familiar with the matter. The Facebook parent also has discussed creating a feature to help people mint their own digital collectibles and a marketplace for users to sell and buy them, the FT said, noting that all the plans remain in the early stages.
A representative from Meta did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. The company declined to comment to the FT.
The reported features would be the company's first attempt to enter the growing market for NFTs, which are digital pieces of art tied to the blockchain. In 2021, the market swelled to more than $40 billion in sales, according to one estimate.
The plans are likely going to hinge on Meta's crypto wallet Novi, the FT reported. The company launched Novi with the help of crypto-exchange Coinbase in October last year to allow users to send and receive money in the form of a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar known as the paxos dollar, or USDP.
The company formerly known as Facebook rebranded to Meta last year as a sign of its push into a futuristic digital world known as the metaverse where people interact, work, play, shop, and more as avatars of themselves. Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg said in a conversation about the metaverse that NFTs could eventually support this world, the FT reported.
Last year, Adam Mosseri, the chief executive officer of Meta-owned Instagram, said the platform was "actively exploring NFTs" and features to make them more accessible, but he didn't provide any specific details. The people familiar told the FT that Instagram is now testing a feature that will showcase NFTs.