But an executive admits we have now seen a "pit of despair" take hold of the market — and a lot of the projects created during last year's mania will not survive.
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Meta is determined to push ahead with plans to add NFTs to Facebook and Instagram — despite the current bear market.
Explaining why Meta is adopting a different approach to the likes of Google and Apple, he told the newspaper:
"The opportunity [Meta] sees is for the hundreds of millions or billions of people that are using our apps today to be able to collect digital collectibles, and for the millions of creators out there that could potentially create virtual and digital goods to be able to sell them through our platforms."
It comes as Meta looks to reinvigorate its offering by focusing on the metaverse — a direct response to the fact that Facebook's users are aging as younger consumers flock to apps such as TikTok instead.
It's hoped that introducing NFTs will bring top creators on to Facebook and Instagram, and in turn, their fans will follow too.
Despite his bullish tone, Kasriel conceded that we have now seen a "pit of despair" take hold of the crypto markets — and a lot of the projects and NFT collections created during last year's mania will not survive.
And he acknowledged that scalability is an ongoing issue. While Meta does intend to use blockchain technology — even though it "technically" doesn't have to, according to Kasriel — he warned many of the major networks currently out there "are just not ready for primetime."
In time, Meta's vision is to ensure the process of buying and selling NFTs is easy for everyday consumers — as well as a lot less expensive.
Instead, this functionality is going to be added to Meta Pay — "a wallet for the metaverse that lets you securely manage your identity, what you own, and how you pay." Zuckerberg added:
"In the future there will be all sorts of digital items you might want to create or buy — digital clothing, art, videos, music, experiences, virtual events, and more. Proof of ownership will be important, especially if you want to take some of these items with you across different services."