META, the parent company behind Facebook and Instagram, revealed the previous week that NFTs will be available to Instagram users in more than 100 countries across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia in the following weeks. NFTs, digital certificates of ownership of art, video or other media, initially appeared on Instagram in May to choose users in the United States.
This new feature lets users connect crypto wallets such as MetaMask, Dapper Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, Rainbow, and Trust Wallet. After connecting the wallet, users can share their digital collectibles to show the world. NFTs shared on the platform will have a glow to them; thus, they stand out from regular posts. Additionally, there will be more information about NFTs, such as the blockchain it was bought from and the artist who created it. Meta has clarified that its platforms will not be a marketplace, but a site for sharing your latest buys.
If you have followed the news in the world of NFTs, you probably know that ETH dominates the space. Nevertheless, competing blockchains keep on to capture a portion of the lucrative market — and Instagram is helping to diversify the field. Not only ETH NFTs are supported on this platform, but others such as Polyon (MATIC) and Flow (FLOW) will join the list of compatible blockchains.
It makes sense for Instagram to back ETH-based NFTs, as the vast majority of the market runs on it. However, for other blockchains, the growth has not been as significant. All that may change with the unrevealed of a new NFT feature for a good portion of Instagram’s two billion users.
Flow and Polygon case
With the chance of more NFTs entering Flow, the blockchain will be more than capable of handling the growth in users. Blockchain uses a unique proof-of-stake mechanism and validation process that is divided into four separate tasks. This makes Flow run quicker than its peers like ETH and keeps costs low.
Flow has made a name for itself as one of the top blockchains for interactive crypto experiences that revolve around collectibles and games. Flow NFTs initially made a big splash in the sports world with projects as NBA Top Shot, that sold over $1 billion, and NFL All Day, that sold about $75 N. Lately, NFTs on the blockchain have branched out from sports, as digital artists have begun to mint their own work.
Polygon’s NFT ecosystem has grown rapidly as a result of users looking for alternatives to Ethereum’s high fees and slow speed. This is exactly why Polygon was created – to scale ETH. As a Layer 2 sidechain to ETH, Polygon processes transactions on its own blockchain and later adds them to ETH. Users on Polygon can make transactions of seconds and often for less than a penny. This is why Meta decided to add blockchain to Instagram.
Risk or opportunity?
Though ETH continues to dominate the NFT market, it may be slowly coming to an end. Tired of the high fees and slow speeds that plague ETH, users have begun looking for alternatives. We should expect this trend to remain as more NFTs make their way into the feeds of Instagram users around the world.
Both Flow and Polygon offer investors a chance that may not come around again. Flow has decreased by nearly 90% from its highest level. Even with this dramatic drop in price, Meta developers and administrators felt that the blockchain was valuable enough to become one of the few blockchains to be integrated into Instagram. Regarding Polygon, it hasn’t suffered as much as Flow, but is still down around 70% from its all-time high of $2.92. It’s trading for less than $0.90 today, so what’s not to like about Polygon’s long-term potential?
While artists and collectors look for blockchains in addition to ETH to purchase and sell NFTs, Polygon and Flow have caught the attention of one of the world’s most popular social media platforms. If NFTs can regain some of the popularity they found in the market the previous January, Polygon and Flow stand to gain the most when the next wave emerges.
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