Meta affirms digital collectibles plan despite crypto crash: Report

Facebook parent company Meta (META) is to proceed with its plans to bring digital collectibles to its users, undeterred by the recent sharp downturn in the cryptocurrency market.

Meta's new head of fintech Stephane Kasriel said in an interview with the Financial Times that the company's plans around non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have not changed "in any way."

“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,” Kasriel said.

He added that the blockchain industry has performed a "hype cycle," in which initial enthusiasm crashes in a bear market and many sectors do not survive.

Meta has seen NFTs as an opportunity to attract creators back to Facebook or Instagram that may otherwise be drifting towards TikTok by giving them a means of monetizing their content.

The social media giant made its ambitions for the digital assets industry clear in October last year when it changed its corporate name from Facebook to Meta, a nod to its plans to build a metaverse in which digital collectibles represented by NFTs are bought, sold and collected.

At the start of this month, Meta began testing Polygon and Ethereum-based NFTs among selected users on Facebook.

Meta did not immediately respond to CoinDesk's request for further comment.